Too low? Sellers say agents under price their homes

Many homeowners think their home is worth a lot more than it really is, according to HomeGain’s third quarter 2012 National Home Values Survey Results of 300 real estate agents.

Seventy-seven percent of sellers say their home is worth more than their real estate agents’ recommended selling price.

Some homeowners are overestimating the value of their home by up to 20 percent. Nearly 40 percent of real estate agents surveyed say that homeowners believe their home is 10 to 20 percent higher than it really is, with another 40 percent reporting overestimates of 1 to 9 percent.

Only about six percent of owners underestimate the value of their home, believing it to be worth less.

Meanwhile, the majority of buyers believe homes for sale are overpriced.
Twenty-three percent of real estate professionals say that buyers believe home prices are overpriced by 10 to 20 percent and 36 percent say prices are inflated by less than 10 percent. About 28 percent say home prices tend to be fair.

The survey found that many homes sell for less than the price at which they are listed, about 77 percent. Nearly 60 percent of real estate professionals say that the average difference between listing price and sales price is less than 5 to 10 percent.