Owners believe homes worth more

By Aaron Kessler - Sarasota Herald Tribune - Published: Monday, August 31, 2009

SURVEY: Listing, and selling, prices continue to disappoint

A new survey by Calif.-based HomeGain shows that a disconnect still remains between what sellers in Florida think their homes are worth and what buyers are willing to pay.

The third-quarter survey of Florida real estate agents, released last week by HomeGain, found that the vast majority of sellers -- some 70 percent -- continued to believe their homes were worth more than even their own Realtors were telling them.

The percentage of buyers who believed that home prices were "fairly valued" increased in the third quarter, to 24 percent. That was up from 18 percent in the second quarter, and 15 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

But it would appear many Florida sellers have yet to come to grips with the reality of the market.

The HomeGain survey found that 35 percent of sellers thought their homes were worth 10 percent to 20 percent more than the listing price recommended by their Realtors.

Seventeen percent were even more bullish (or deluded, depending on your perspective) and thought their homes should fetch 21 percent to 30 percent more, and 6 percent thought their property should be priced 30 percent higher.
Conversely, only 1 percent of sellers thought their home was worth 10 percent to 20 percent less than their agents recommended; 3 percent of sellers, 21 percent to 30 percent less; and 4 percent, more than 30 percent less.

Only 15 percent of Florida homeowners in the third quarter agreed with the listing price their Realtors recommended. Though that number has been steadily rising all year -- up from 10 percent in the second quarter and 5 percent in the first quarter -- a possible indication that some sellers are more willing to listen to their sales agents when it comes to price.

Overall, however, an overwhelming 70 percent of Florida sellers thought their homes were worth more than their listing price.

Florida sellers were not alone in their sentiment -- the national numbers released by HomeGain found that 74 percent of sellers in the United States as a whole thought their homes were worth more than the recommended listing price.

In terms of what buyers are looking for, and getting, in the Florida market, it was almost always a discount from the asking price, the survey found. In fact, an average of only 5 percent of buyers purchased a home for its listed price in the third quarter.

Eighty-four percent of buyers paid less, in some cases considerably less. On average, half of the homes sold went for a discount of between 5 percent and 10 percent less than their listing prices, the survey found. Thirty-two percent of homes sold for between 11 percent to 20 percent off the listing price, and 2 percent went for a discount of 21 percent to 30 percent.

Florida's Realtors actually grew more pessimistic in the third quarter about where prices could be headed: Of the agents surveyed, nearly half, 46 percent, believed that home values will fall in the next six months. At the end of the second quarter, only 24 percent believed that.

In terms of how the value of their clients' home values have fared over the last year, 93 percent of the real estate agents said prices have decreased. That was up from 82 percent at the end of the second quarter.

The percentage of agents who reported their clients' home values have stayed the same in the last year shrunk to only 4 percent, down from 13 percent in the second quarter.

Only 3 percent of agents reported the values of the homes they had listed actually increased since last year.