More sellers now in tune with the market.

Homeowner Confidence Shrinks - Most Americans Now Believe Their Home’s Value Has Declined.

Almost four years into the decline in real estate prices the tables have turned and the majority (60%) now believe their home lost value during the past 12 months, according to Zillow's Q1 Homeowners Confidence Survey. Up until last year the majority believed their home had not declined in value. Over 80% of homes across the country lost value in the past 12 months, according to real estate market reports.

As for selling activity, it’s clear that a significant number of potential sellers are holding back due to the current market. When asked about future plans to sell, 31% of homeowners said they would be at least “somewhat likely” to put their homes on the market in the next 12 months if they saw signs of a real estate market turnaround.

“The perception of American homeowners is finally catching up to reality, which is that 80+% of all homes in the country lost value during this past year,” said Dr. Stan Humphries, Zillow’s vice president of data and analytics. “While homeowners are now more realistic when looking backward, they are still pretty starry-eyed when looking forward with three out of four homeowners believing that their own homes’ prices will increase or be flat over the next six months. Unfortunately, there are few markets we expect to perform this well.”

Humphries continued, “Also interesting is the information we have for the first time this quarter on the levels of ’shadow inventory’ - homes that people would like to sell but that aren’t currently on the market, and thus aren’t captured in the official number of homes on the market. With almost a third of homeowners poised to jump into the market at the first sign of stabilization, this could create a steady stream of new inventory adding to already record-high inventory levels, thus keeping downward pressure on home prices.”

Fortunately for sellers choosing to sell using Homeowners Concept's low commission structure, they can count on walking away with more money at closing than the competition.