HomeGain®, one of the first websites to provide free instant home values, today announced the results of an extensive nationwide home price survey of current and former HomeGain Realtor® members.
The results published below show generally that HomeGain Realtor members are of the opinion that home sellers believe their homes to be worth more than Realtors and homebuyers believe that they are worth.
A recent Zillow® poll showed that sellers were no longer ‘in denial’ regarding the U.S. housing slide. The latest HomeGain survey, however, underscores that while homeowners may be aware of falling home prices around the country, many believe that the slide doesn’t apply to their homes. Our survey shows that homebuyers and Realtors are telling homeowners their homes are worth considerably less than homeowners think they are.
A majority of HomeGain Realtor members believe home prices will continue to fall in the next six months and that the Obama stiumulus package will do little to change the direction of home values.
Here are the complete results of the first quarter 2009 HomeGain Realtor® Home Values Survey.
1. On average, in the last year do you think your homeowner clients home values have:
NATIONAL RESULTS
REGIONAL RESULTS
2. On average, what do your homeowner clients believe that their home is worth?
NATIONAL RESULTS
REGIONAL RESULTS
Surveyed HomeGain Agents’ Commentary:
“Sellers know that prices have fallen but that somehow doesn’t apply to them because they have “upgraded vinyl” or some such nonsense. In other words, their house has the golden doorknob,” said Pamela Frey-Primiani of Keller Williams Realty in Sicklerville, New Jersey, and HomeGain AgentEvaluator® member.
“Our market is great for buyers looking for a deal and that’s what they are getting with the foreclosures and short sales (if they close). Owner occupants cannot compete and are unwilling to list at the bank prices.”
“The buyers are afraid to buy too soon,” stated Renah Bell of Cedarhurst, New York.
“The homes that have been selling (aside from short sales and foreclosure/bank owned homes) are homes that are priced relatively low and have good appeal. Buyers are in now hurry and ask for everything,” wrote Larry Davis of Rento, Washington, HomeGain AgentEvaluator member.
“Several home buyers are waiting to purchase as they feel prices will decrease.”
4. In the next six months, do you think the values of homes in your market will:
NATIONAL RESULTS
REGIONAL RESULTS
Surveyed HomeGain Agents’ Commentary:
“Florida home prices will continue to decline until more is done to stimulate home buying.”
“Things have been ‘challenged’, as we like to say, for about a year, but very recently things seem to be stabilizing, and the quantity of both buyer and seller clients is increasing.”
5. What percentage of homes for sale in your area are foreclosures?
NATIONAL RESULTS
REGIONAL RESULTS
6. What is the average home price in your area?
NATIONAL RESULTS
REGIONAL RESULTS
7. In your opinion, what will the Obama stimulus package have on home values in 2009?
NATIONAL RESULTS
REGIONAL RESULTS
Surveyed HomeGain Agent Member Commentary Against the Obama Stimulus Package:
“The Stimulus package and Moriatoriums will just prolong the foreclosure market.”
“Unfortunately we are headed in the wrong direction with this ‘spending’ package. 
Captialism doesn’t work when government tries to take over,” wrote Mitch Ribak of Tropical Realty of Suntree, and HomeGain AgentView , AgentEvaluator and Buyerlink member.
“We are in a tough market. The stimulus package will not be enough to stabilize the market.”
“Rewarding the people not paying thier mortgages with free equity makes me sick.”
“I hope Obama’s plan will stabilize prices…Being involved in the stock market also, so far Obama’s plans have not been well received.”
“Obama’s plan is no plan for turning the economy around. Until he stops beating up on corporations that create jobs, lowers taxes on those who pay income taxes, shows some personal integrity, and addresses the housing problem in a meaningful way — this mess is going to continue well into 2010 or even longer.”
“The stimulus package may help some people avoid foreclosure and/or make their loan payment more affordable, but values will continue to decline,” wrote Greg Rippel of Puyallup Washington, AgentEvaluator and AgentView member.
“The stimulus package has done very little impact on the housing prices. People who are on the verge of forclosure are mostly over-extended themselves and by prolonging the process of forclosure is not the answer to resolve the housing crisis.”
“Welcome to the New Socialist Republic of North America!”
“The latest Obama plan will not help markets such as South Florida, where people have huge amounts of negative equity.”
“The government needs to get out of the private sector.”
“The $15,000 proposed tax credit for ANY buyer would have been a much better incentive to help the real estate market,” wrote Diane McBride of Alpharetta Georgia, HomeGain AgentEvaluator member.
“Obama’s plan should have included ALL buyers.”
“The Obama stimulus plan and budget do NOTHING to help revive the housing industry!!!,” noted Nina Hollander of Charlotte North Carolina, HomeGain Buyerlink member.
“The Stimulus Package can only prolong the agony,” noted Basil Bandek of Plano Texas, HomeGain AgentView member.
“The stimulus package needs to address a broader span of homebuyers. Not everyone is a first-time buyer and not all owners are in default, but the falling values have made many upsidedown and prohibit moves,” wrote Diane Kryszak of Longboat Key, Florida.
“Obama stimulus package will not work it will bankrupt everyone.”
“I think what Obama is doing will make every thing worse in the long run.”
“1) The stimulus package may make a small dent in the number of lower priced homes but not enough to seriously affect the market. 2) The $8,000 tax credit should have been made available to ALL buyers not just first-timers and/or it should have be given as a “housing Voucher” to first-timers to use towards up to 3.5% of their closing costs or down payment if they have a maintained credit score above 600,” said Bisi Oloko, of Wake Forest, North Carolina.
“Obama’s first-time homebuyer credit and lower interest rates are helpful to the market. However, his proposal to eliminate the mortgage interest tax deduction is an absolute disaster for the market (buyers and sellers),” stated Mark Richardson of Duxbury, Massachusetts.
“I do not feel that the stimulus package will affect this — I think the overall economy will affect the prices.”
“Obama’s stimulus package will draw out this housing problem.”
“Overall I do not agree with the stimulus plan. I think the government could have done things differently to help home prices and the market in general. I do think however that the tax credit for first time home buyers is a step in the right direction. I just think that this or some form of this credit should have been offered to anyone purchasing a home in order to stimulate the overall market. In my opinion the stimulus bill puts too much money in places that do not provide a long term growth opportunity and only further expand government.”
“No economy has ever survived by printing money.”
“Not sure if the stimulus package will help. I would hope that it helps but when you overtax people that are the productive ones in society it often takes incentive from them to produce. We will see.”
“Obama’s plan will kill homeownership and we will be slow slow slow. This is because we will see inflation like we did under Jimmy Carter who was nearly as foolish but nothing compared to these older hippies that will run our government towards communism starting first with socialism.”
“The hope is that the stimulus package will at least get more first time home buyers into the market to start a domino effect in getting homes sold and lowering the inventory.”
“I think Obama’s package will take some time to see the housing market correct itself, but I do have hope that it will work.”
“I believe the tax credit will help with buyers on the fence.”
“I think the stimulus package will help somewhat, but is not enough.”"
“I think the stimulus package might bring out more first time buyers but they typically want to spend less than $100,000. Right now I have about six buyers who are looking anywhere from $20,000 to $90,000,” wrote Deborah Chapel of Ypsilanti Mississippi, HomeGain AgentEvaluator member.
“Buyers are already jumping on the advantage of the stimulus package. They have finally gotten off the fence and we are hopeful for a good spring/summer market.”
“The only part of the stimulus I think will have an effect is the tax credit. I hope there is some marketing associated with it to let more peple know about it.”
“Obama stimulus will help the current market of houses and that will stabilize home prices, but I believe it will be short term,” noted Tyla Jackson of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Additional Commentary from Surveyed HomeGain Members:
BLAME THE MEDIA
“The media has ruined our real estate market.”
“The media, more than reality, is hurting our market. President Obama’s plans seem to be able to help us.”
“Still a lot of negative remarks in Media to counter the market trying to come back.”
BLAME THE MORTGAGE BROKERS
“I wish the news media would quit saying people bought homes they could not afford. This is not correct. Buyers bought homes they could afford, they did not know their taxes and insurance would go up 4 to 10 times the original cost. They did not know they were going to lose their jobs, or their hours cut back and their salary is half of what they were making at the time of purchase. They were not told the truth from mortgage brokers regarding the ARM rates.”
To view the state survey data, click here.
State home prices survey results are available for California, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas by clicking on the links below.
Try HomeGain’s Instant Home Values tool
Find U.S. homes for sale and search U.S. real estate
HomeGain real estate survey results are based on responses of nearly 700 Realtors in the U.S.
*Regions are divided as follows:
- Northeast: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusettes, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia
- Southeast: Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennesee
- Midwest: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri
- West: Alaska, Hawaii, California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho and Montana
Get home prices in United States cities
March 31, 2009 – New York home prices drop 9.6 percent year over year in January – The New York Daily News
April 14, 2009 – Economist predicts 15% drop in New York area home prices – Bloomberg
March 23, 2009 – Chicago home prices fall 24.7% as home sales plummet 40.4% - Chicago Tribune
March 31, 2009 – Los Angeles home values dropped 26% year over year – Los Angeles Times
April 4, 2009 – Houston home prices fell in more than 2/3 of the 2000+ Houston neighborhoods for the first time in 14 years according to the Houston Chronicle.
April 2, 2009 – Philadelphia pending home sales down 7.7% from January to February – Philadelphia Inquirer
March 31, 2009 – Phoenix home prices drop 35% year over year in January – Phoenix Business Journal
April 8, 2009 – Home sales jump as median San Diego home prices for singe detached homes drop in March 2009 from $335K to $325K the previous month according to Channel 6 News in San Diego.
March 23, 2009 – Detroit home prices drop 50% year over year. Median recent home sale price is $41,000 – The Associated Press
April 13, 2009 - Median Indianapolis home prices fall 12.2% in March year over year to $108,805- Inside Indiana Business
March 25, 2009 – San Francisco home prices down 30% year over year. Forbes
April 3, 2009 – Seattle home prices down 14.3% in January year over year – The Street
April 12, 2009 – Bank owned properties comprised 11% of the market, five times as many as two years ago. Boston Herald
April 3, 2009 – Denver home prices fall 14.3% in January 2009 compared to January 2008- The Street
April 9, 2009 – Las Vegas median home price down 38.7% in March from a year earlier – Las Vegas Review Journal
March 31 2009 Portland home prices drop 14% in January year over year- Oregon-Live.
April 10, 2009 – Minneapolis home prices down 23% but Minneapolis homes for sale up 21% in March. KSTP-TV
April 3, 2009 – Oahu home prices down 4.5% in March. Honolulu Advertiser
Find U.S. homes for sale and search U.S. real estate
“The neighborhood I live in and market, are $500,000 to $2,500,000, they tend to think their homes are still more than what the current market can bring.”
3. How do your homebuyer clients feel homes are priced?
REGIONAL RESULTS
Surveyed HomeGain Agents’ Commentary:
“Differences between seller and buyer are still too great — they just don’t get it yet.”
These are the kind of surveys that should be done on a quarterly basis. I like the commentary, it’s almost like a Twitter feed! The results, although expected, reflect the almost unanimous persistent gloom enveloping the nation. So pervasive that there are no contrarians!
March 5th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Pat
Thanks for comments
We are planning on doing this survey quarterly. We also are going to add a couple of questions.
March 5th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
“The $8,000 tax credit should have been made available to ALL buyers. However, the $15,000 tax credit originally proposed would have made a big difference to the real estate market.” wrote Regina Ambrose, Chapman Hall Realtors, of Atlanta, Georgia, HomeGain AgentEvaluator member.
March 5th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Too much spending in the simulus package. Incentives would have been a better alternative. Work it as a home purchase tax abatement in the course of five years. And it may be a good idea to just let some of the companies like AIG and GM go bankrupt. We are just putting good money into companies that are failures anyway.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:07 am
I would like to respond to the following comment by Louis Cammarosano in his email that directed me to this BLOG:
“…it’s difficult to get home owners to invest in home staging, it looks, according to our survey, because they think their homes are worth more than they think they are!”
MY QUESTION IS…how can homeowners imagine that they are reflecting the true worth of their homes when they are willing to allow marginal pictures of their properties to be uploaded to the internet?
In today’s web-driven market, compelling online photos of homesellers’ properties are their MOST POTENT MARKETING TOOLS and it is stunning to me how many bad photos I still see online.
In fact, less-than-appealing pictures on the RMLS have potential buyers SCREENING OUT these homes without even driving to the front door.
With months of inventory on the market, why would photos of homes that appear CRAMPED, CLUTTERED, DATED warrant a drive-by or on-site viewing? Vacant homes have their own challenges, since empty rooms provide little in the way of a compelling emotional hook to attract buyers.
It seems to me that in today’s climate, the SMARTEST marketing strategy would be to stage VACANT homes; edit down and reposition furnishings in LIVED-IN properties; have professional-quality photos taken.
Vacant or lived-in, this will INSURE that marketing photos fully reveal the home’s value and potential.
I share the following comparison with clients who are waivering between Staging and not Staging.
Pretend that there is a job you are applying for. Would you go to the job interview looking any different if you knew that there were 200 other people applying for the job as opposed to 20 other applicants?
Even though your chances of getting a job are significantly lower when there are 200 applicants, you still wear your best business clothes – looking crisp, clean and professional – to that job interview.
Its the same with a house.
You need to present it at its VERY BEST, whether there is one month or 10 months of inventory competing with it.
One thing that is GUARANTEED to further reduce the chance of selling in this market is to FAIL TO PROPERLY REFLECT a home’s value in those online marketing photos.
The other thing GUARANTEED to reduce the chance of selling is to hire a competent realtor and then NOT LISTEN to their pricing recommendations for the home.
Janis Gaines – The Notably Well-Dressed Home
Home Staging in Eugene Oregon and surrounding Lane County areas.
March 6th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Bush economics 101… I believe the market is going to stabilize with the rest of the world! Global real estate. It’s high time the prices of homes comes down to a realistic pricing. After all, most of the jobs are leaving the country anyway. The prices of U.S. homes has to follow. ;>)
March 6th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Well it’s pretty much well said that the stimulus package will not do what it is hoped to do by those polled. Still no results and I don’t foresee any. Those in the Midwest feel that prices and the market will stay the same – stuck, going nowhere!
March 27th, 2009 at 8:47 am
Pardon me, but when I read these comments I felt as though I was watching FOX News! What a bunch of right wing bullshit! All these brilliant republican minds. I’ve seen enough of their ideas to last a life time! Obama has been in office for 60 days. Dumbass was there for 8 years. Take off your zealot colored right wing glasses and smell the roses!
March 27th, 2009 at 9:28 am
I’m with DannyB!
March 27th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Right or left….roll up the shirt sleeves and instead of watching so much TV get to work!!Its a tough market…but houses are still selling!!
March 27th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Most of the comments left regarding the Obama Stimulus program are shameful partisan nonsense and the same old fear BS that’s been spewed for the last 8 years. ENOUGH already! All the buzzwords, socialism, whatever, enough! If you think the end of the world is coming, then leave, go! See ya!
April 20th, 2009 at 10:58 am
… I feel like I am having lunch at my son’s school! Jeez, lighten up. Give stimulus a chance…
June 21st, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Hows that hope and change workin?
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Personally, I have nothing against President Obama, but printing money and spending it hoping for a recovery is never going to work. You need to understand that for every stimulus dollar that’s “printed”, the dollars in your bank account/pocket become further diluted and worth less. In the end, the stimulus will do nothing but lower our standard of living, drive prices up through inflation, and prolong a recovery. This is basic economics….WAKE UP PEOPLE! Bush never should have started down this road with the first stiumulus. The Federal Reserve is ultimately responsible for all this chaos through their monetary manipulation since 1913, yet no one wants to talk about that…because most do not understand how our system really works. Now I leave you with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)”
August 6th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Well, Obama has been in office amount half of his term – that “change” don’t look so good yet. I’m still waiting, unfortunately our “change” has been for the worse. How does all the people that voted for him feel now about his miracle “change” he promised?
September 9th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
As a remodeling contractor my business has really been hurt but I have seen some signs of relief, need more jobs, more disposable income.
http://dimensionbuildlv.com
September 13th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
We need a tax credit for second or third time home buyers and credits for remodeling.
September 14th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Great data- I think this is worth sending to all clients and the public at large- Lets face it- Obama and the govt. will NEVER fix things. You can’t do that when you are in bed with other corrupt countries and too big to fail cooperations. UNTIL that changes things will not change like we think. I highly doubt the govt,. will do another bail out for little home buying americans. The 8K tax credit was a start but a drop in the bucket compared to what their cronies got at the Unions and others who got them into office– what a joke– Remember- the housing market is the engine that pulls the rest of the economy. Until the housing gets fixed the rest will not- lets not even talk about gas prices- I really wonder how much gas needs to go i.e. 5-6-7-8 dollars a gallon before those famous words “DRILL BABY DRILL” sound really good and those poor little furry polar bears can try to convince us americans how bad they have it then. We are in a real mess BUT I love those words from 2 years ago- YOU AINT SEEN NOTHING YET. Hang on to your seat- the ride continues to go down hill and there is no end in sight-
March 4th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Why dont you tell us more about your political leanings?
March 4th, 2011 at 2:23 pm