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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BUFC15LT56.DTL
Now I don't know about other's experiences, but Zillow to me has always been somewhat high in their Zestimates. Your experiences?
If this is true, then the 27% and 1 in 6 numbers are conservative.
Bay Area homes lost $202 billion in value in 2008, according to a real estate valuation service. The jaw-dropping number, courtesy of Zillow.com, totals the equity lost in all homes in the nine counties as real estate values tumbled under the pressure of foreclosures, recession and tightened lending standards.
Zillow said home values for the area fell 18.3 percent in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago, reaching a median value of $503,397. That was bigger than the overall U.S. decline of 11.6 percent in the quarter.
Zillow's ZIP code breakdown of valuation changes around the Bay Area showed that only 12 of 228 ZIP codes inched out valuation gains in 2008 compared with the previous year. Those rare "appreciating" ZIPs are in affluent areas such as Atherton, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, parts of San Francisco, Berkeley and Bodega Bay.
Zillow's report showed that 27 percent of Bay Area homeowners now have negative equity, meaning they owe more than their home is worth. That's a grim indicator, because being underwater, as the condition is also known, increases the likelihood of foreclosure.
Nationally, about 1 in 6 (17.6 percent) of all homeowners were underwater at year-end, Zillow said, up from 1 in 7 in September.
Nationally, about 1 in 6 (17.6 percent) of all homeowners were underwater at year-end, Zillow said, up from 1 in 7 in September.
If this is true, then the 27% and 1 in 6 numbers are conservative.
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