A new study by Zillow shows that many homeowners have a higher opinion of their home’s value than what the home is truly worth. The Seattle company says that nearly two out of three homeowners think their home value has increased or stayed the same in the past year. The reality: 77 percent of homes in the U.S. lost value in the last year, 19 percent increased and 5 percent remained the same.

I find this level of optimism particularly interesting at a time when I hear often from real estate professionals that gloomy economic numbers and reports have dampened consumers' enthusiasm and outlook on the market.

Zillow’s vice president of data and analytics Stan Humphries highlighted the gap between homeowner perception and market realities.

"We attribute this gap to a combination of inattention and a fair bit of denial that causes people to believe their home is insulated from the woes of the market that affect others, but not them," he said. "This sentiment is also carried through in homeowner confidence for the short-term as more people expect their home to perform better in the next six months than the market and recent past. Although many homeowners may believe the worst is over, we think this level of optimism is out of sync with actual market performance."

Thoughts?