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Have you ever driven past a house for sale and checked its price on Zillow? If so, this is the survey for you.
A new study by All Star Home found that 72% of Americans underestimate the housing prices in their city, with San Francisco residents having the sharpest “property-value intuition” of the cities surveyed, and Chicagoans the worst.
Conducted in October, the comprehensive survey asked 1,466 participants across the 29 most populous cities in the US to estimate home values in their town. Not surprisingly, 86% of those polled were surprised by how expensive homes in their area were.
The most price-intuitive cities polled were San Francisco, scoring 95 out of 100 points in the survey, with Las Vegas and Fort Worth residents rounding out the top lots. On the other end, Chicagoans fared worst at guessing home prices, scoring only 15 out of 100, with Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dallas close behind.
In the high-low game, El Paso, Texas led in overestimating local prices, while Charlotte, North Carolina and Chicago took the prize in underestimating values. Charlotte has an excuse, though: just seven years ago, they were considered one of the most affordable cities for home buyers. Then property values started skyrocketing …
Residents of Nashville, Denver, and Jacksonville were most surprised at the prices in their town, all scoring over 96%. The least surprised were San Francisco (70.59%), Oklahoma City (76.47%), and New York (78%).
Of those polled, 86% were stunned by rising home prices. The shock cut across generational lines: boomers were most surprised (91%), but Millennials (87%), Gen X (85%), and Gen Z (84%) were right there with them.
The prize for estimating exactly how much a house was worth goes to San Francisco, with 12.42% exact matches, followed by San Diego (9.52%) and Los Angeles (9.33%). Note that all three are HCOL (high cost of living) cities. That said, the low number of exact matches shows that even in the most price-intuitive areas, most can’t pinpoint the price.
The Home Value Price Is Right game plays out across all demographics, with 73% of Gen Zers polled admitting to guessing a home’s price when they see a For Sale sign out front. Boomers were next (70%), with Gen Xers and Millennials close behind (65% and 62%, respectively). Women led men at 68% to 63%.
Click here to view All Star Home’s full report.
