What, me worry?

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Home prices are sinking, but that fact hasn’t sunk in with many homeowners. About half of U.S. homeowners say their home’s value has either increased or remained the same over the past year, according to a survey by real estate site Zillow.com.

In fact, says Zillow, about three-quarters of U.S. homes lost value in the past year, according to their calculations.

For the first time, a bare majority -- 51% of homeowners-- said their home had declined in value in the past 12 months. Of the rest, 32% think their home increased in value in the past 12 months, while 17% said they believe their value remained the same.

The survey was taken in the first week of October. Zillow’s previous survey, taken in July, found that 62% of homeowners thought their property had increased or remained the same in value.

Here in the West, 65% of us think our homes have declined in value in the last year. That percentage, while higher than the rest of the nation, also understates reality. Zillow estimates 85% of homes in the region have lost value in the past year.

-- Peter Y. Hong