Is market reality finally catching up to homeowners?
The short answer is everywhere else but here.
A survey just out by HomeGain suggests a big shift in attitudes toward the real estate market.
Half of all homeowners across the country now believe prices are headed down over the next six months.
That's a marked increase from the second quarter, when just 30 percent of homeowners were bracing for more price declines.
Despite now years of falling sales and prices, the ever optimistic American homeowner has been confidently predicting a real estate market turnaround is just around the corner. Until now that is.
Yet as usual, homeowners here in the Bay State, are once again defying common sense as they buck this trend towards greater realism.
Let's face it, the Boston area has a larger than average dose of homeowners who view the real estate market through rose-colored lenses. Our sellers believe their homes are all extraordinarily special, mainly by virtue of overpaying for them in the first place.
It's enough to make homeowners in the Bay State the second most optimistic in the country, with 22 percent clinging to the belief that home values will surge over the next six months. That's second only to Virginia, where 29 percent of homeowners also believe in an imminent rebound in prices.
In fact, our much maligned real estate agents here in Massachusetts - who get more than their share of barbs in the comments sections of this blog - appear to be a relative fount of market realism.
More than 56 percent of Massachusetts real estate agents and brokers are bracing for another drop in home prices over the next six months. That puts us at No. 7 in the country for having the most realistic/pessimistic Realtors.
OK, so isn't it time to give a little credit to our hometown real estate professionals?
