SEATTLE, May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite continued home value declines nationwide, U.S. homeowners remain bullish about their own home's value. For the second consecutive quarter, homeowner perception about changes in their personal home value is markedly off from the reality, according to a recent Zillow® survey of homeowner confidence conducted by Harris Interactive®.

  (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060503/ZILLOWLOGO )

  Perception-Reality Gap Remains Wide

According to the survey, 72 percent of homeowners believe their home's value has increased or stayed the same the past year. The reality is 75 percent of U.S. homes actually decreased in value from the same period a year ago, according to Zillow. In fact, in the first quarter home values dropped 7.7 percent year-over-year, which was the largest year-over-year decline in more than a decade, according to the Zillow Q1 Home Value Report released separately today. Since the confidence survey was first conducted last December, homeowners show signs they are moving closer to reality as 5 percent more respondents in Q1 said they think their home value has decreased in the past year compared to those surveyed in Q407.

Homeowners in the Northeast may have a better grasp on reality than those in other parts of the U.S. as 27 percent of Northeast homeowners believe their home increased in value in the last year, which was in line with the actual increase (26%). While more homeowners in the West believe their home has decreased in value (37%), it's wildly off from the actual 85 percent of homes that declined in value in the last year.

  Homeowner Perception of  US 2008  Northeast  Midwest  South  West  US 2007
   Home Value Change in      Q1        Q1        Q1      Q1     Q1      Q4
   Past Year
  My Home's Value Has
   Increased                 33%       27%       33%     37%    35%     36%
  My Home's Value Has
   Decreased                 28%       24%       30%     25%    37%     23%
  My Home's Value Has
   Stayed the Same           38%       50%       38%     38%    28%     41%

  Market Reality:
  Actual Homes Reporting
   Value Changes ,
   according to Zillow
  Actual Percent of Homes
   that Increased YOY
   in Q1                     19%       26%       20%     28%    12%      *
  Actual Percent of Homes
   that Decreased YOY
   in Q1                     75%       67%       73%     66%    85%     58%
  Actual Percent of Homes
   that Stayed the Same
   YOY in Q1                  5%        7%        7%      6%     3%      *
  * not reported


  Planned Housing Actions and Home Related Investments Remain Consistent

The percent of homeowners who say they plan to make home improvements, sell or finance a home in 2008 remained essentially unchanged from last quarter despite further market deterioration. About one-third of homeowners say they are equally or more likely to sell their homes, take out a home loan, refinance or take out a second mortgage, regardless of their perception of home value change.

  Equally or More Likely to ...                      Q1 2008        Q4 2007
  Take out a home equity loan                          32%            35%
  Refinance their mortgage or take out a
   second mortgage                                     35%            36%
  Sell their homes                                     33%            34%
  Make minor home improvements
  (install new garbage disposal,
  repaint or wallpaper a room)                         75%            77%
  Make major home improvements
   (replace the roof, remodel the kitchen)             54%            56%


  What's Driving Homeowner Perception?

"While we assume there's a fair bit of owner denial reflected in these results, we also believe a large portion of the population simply isn't paying close attention to their housing market because they're not currently looking to sell or finance," said Dr. Stan Humphries, Zillow.com vice president of data & analytics. "But even among those who say they're planning home-related activities this year, confidence appears strong despite continuing declines. Approximately one-third of homeowners say they are equally or more likely to sell their home, refinance or take out a home equity line of credit this year, which is essentially unchanged from sentiment in the fourth quarter."

Zillow Q1 Home Value Report Conference Call: To join, dial toll free: 800- 218-0713

Join Zillow's VP of Data and Analytics Dr. Stan Humphries on Tuesday, May 6 @ 11:00 AM PDT to learn more about how markets nationwide fared in Q1 and what the results mean in the broader context of the real estate market.

About Zillow.com

Zillow.com is an online real estate community where homeowners, buyers, sellers, and real estate agents and mortgage professionals find and share vital information about homes, for free. Zillow.com and Zillow, are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc.

*Methodology and Timeframe of the Survey

The surveys were conducted online by Harris Interactive within the United States on behalf of Zillow.com between December 26 and December 28, 2007 among 1,590 adults ages 18+ who own a home and between March 6 and March 10, 2008, among 1,821 adults ages 18+ who own a home. In the March survey, homeowners were distributed by region as follows: Northeast (n=434), Midwest (n= 455), South (n= 532) and West (n= 400). These online surveys are not based on probability samples and therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. A full methodology, including weighting variables, is available. Contact: Amanda Hoffman 206-470-7167.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060503/ZILLOWLOGO
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PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

SOURCE: Zillow.com

CONTACT: Amanda Hoffman, +1-206-470-7167

Web site: http://www.zillow.com/