Survey: Buyers, sellers still disagree on home prices

A sharp disconnect still exists between homeowners and sellers over the real value of home prices, according to the latest survey by HomeGain.com Inc. of Emeryville, Calif. The study found 63% of homeowners said their homes should be listed at higher prices than what their real estate agents recommend, while 59% of buyers believed homes are still too expensive. Indeed, the survey found 45% of homeowners believed prices should be 10% to 20% higher than their agents recommended, while 14% believed prices should be 20% to 30% higher. Four percent said their homes should be priced more than 30% higher and only 14% believed the agent priced the property fairly. Among homebuyers, 21% said homes are overpriced by up to 10%, while 32% said homes are overvalued by 10% to 20%. Six percent said homes are more than 21% overpriced and only 18% think homes are priced fairly. Although 90% of those surveyed said they believed home prices have fallen in the past year, most don’t think it should apply to their homes. “Homeowners know that prices have fallen, but that somehow doesn’t apply to them because they have ‘upgraded vinyl’ or some such nonsense,” Pamela Frey-Primiani of Keller Williams Realty in Sicklerville, N.J., said in a statement. “Sellers have got to be realistic in their expectations. An overpriced home in these times does nothing — no showings, no offers, just whining from sellers that it’s all someone else’s fault that the home hasn’t sold. Sellers need to get real.” The survey showed 53% of respondents thought home prices will fall further in the next six months, 11% said they’ll increase, and 36% predicted they will remain the same. Most respondents said they believed the Obama stimulus package will not spur a recovery in the housing sector: Fifty-eight percent said the stimulus package will have no impact, or will cause prices to fall further. About 38% thought the package will stabilize prices, and just 4% believed it will cause values to increase.