We talk about mortgages a lot, which makes sense since we are a mortgage lender. But today I am sharing information about the current housing market and pricing your house. After all, without people buying houses, there would be little need for a mortgage lender, would there?

We all know it’s a buyer’s market, so pricing your house appropriately when you list it is essential for a timely sale. Zillow’s latest research has found, however, that sellers aren’t on the same page when it comes to proper pricing of their home. This variation has a lot to do when they bought the home they are now ready to sell.

Zillow did some major research – to the tune of 1 million homes currently for sale. They found that homeowners who bought:

• in 2007 or after believe their homes are worth 14% more than current market value.
• before the housing run-up, prior to 2002, they overpriced their home by almost 12%
• during the run-up, from 2002-2006, these sellers are pricing their homes 9% over market value.

Why are all so many sellers pricing their houses from 9% to 14% over market value? Many people use the price they paid for their home as a basis for determining the value of it today. Unfortunately, home values are back to 2003 levels. Values have dropped every year since 2006.

These are startling facts to some people. The best way to prepare is to do some research. Find out what the true value of your home is today before placing it on the market. Then you’ll price your house correctly, based on today’s market.