RISMEDIA, September 23, 2010—HomeGain, one of the first companies to provide free instant home valuations online, announced the results of its nationwide 2010 third quarter home prices survey based on the responses of over 1,100 current and former HomeGain members and 2,600 homeowners.
Real estate professionals and homeowners soured on the direction of home prices in the third quarter. Forty-eight percent of agents and brokers and 33% of homeowners think that home prices will decrease over the next six months. This reflects an increase in the percentage of real estate professionals and homeowners who expect a decline in home prices from the second quarter HomeGain home prices survey. In that survey, 33% of agents and brokers and 23% of homeowners expected home prices to decrease over the next six months. Forty-two percent of homeowners, real estate agents and brokers think that home prices will remain the same in the coming six months.
Only 10% of real estate professionals and 18% of homeowners expect home values to increase in the coming six months. The results are similar to a recent Rasmussen poll of homeowners that found only 15% expect home prices to rise over the next year.
Seventy-nine percent of homeowners continue to believe their homes are worth more than the recommended agent listing price, up from 77% last quarter.
Sixty-nine percent of surveyed agents and brokers indicated that their home buyer clients think homes for sale are overpriced, up from 61% last quarter.
Real estate professionals and homeowners are taking a far more negative view on the direction of home prices citing current high inventory levels, continued foreclosures, the expiration of the tax credit and the general state of the economy. There also continues to be an increasing disconnect between what homeowners and buyers think homes are worth.
Forty-nine percent of agents and brokers surveyed indicated that they “strongly disapproved” and 18% “somewhat disapproved” of Barack Obama’s performance as president, earning him a 67% disapproval rating versus the 58% disapproval rating of agents and brokers surveyed in the third quarter last year. Last quarter, the President had a 65% disapproval rating from agents and brokers.
Forty-four percent of homeowners “strongly disapproved” and 17% “somewhat disapproved” of the president’s performance, earning him a 61% disapproval rating. The president had a 56% disapproval rating last quarter among surveyed homeowners with 44% “strongly disapproving”. The Rasmussen Daily Presidential Approval Index taken during the same period as the HomeGain home prices survey indicated that the president’s average disapproval rating was 54% with an average of 43% “strongly disapproving” of his performance.
Phil Hobson, Prudential Texas Properties, H Group
www.hgroupdallas.com
(214) 659-3624