Homeowners are realistic about the value of their homes.

For the second consecutive month, home value perceptions remained steady with owners barely overvaluing their home, at a national level.

In September, the average appraisal was only 0.29 percent less than what owners expected, according the Quicken Loans National Home Price Perception Index This result is consistent with August, when appraisals were 0.28 percent lower than estimated. This gap between the two opinions is much improved from the previous year, when appraiser opinions were an average of 1.14 percent lower.

Home value perceptions may be holding steady, but the growth of appraisal values slowed in September. The National Quicken Loans Home Value Index showed the average appraisal value rose 0.35 percent since the prior month, less than half of the growth rate from August. The annual increases in value are more consistent, with 5.69 percent year-over-year jump in September compared with a 5.79 percent increase in August.

Home Price Perception Index: Nationally, the home values estimate owners give at the beginning of the mortgage process is nearly even with the price opinions appraisers provide near the end of the financing process. In September, the average owner estimate was 0.29 percent lower than the value supplied by the appraiser, according to the Nationally HPPI. Not only that, but the number of metro areas where appraisals were more likely to be lower than expected dropped by 40 percent in the last year.

“A wide gap between the estimated home value and the appraised value can cause a mortgage to be reworked, or in some cases, scrapped altogether,” said Bill Banfield, Quicken Loans Executive Vice President of Capital Markets. “All the more reason for homeowners to be realistic when their mortgage banker asks them what they think their home is worth when they start the financing process. Our hope is that the HPPI data on past neighbor transactions can help a homeowner better estimate the value of their home in order to set their financing up for success.”

Home Value Index: Home appraisal values rose 0.35 percent in September, according to the Quicken Loans HVI – the only measure of home value change based solely on appraisal data. Annually, home values posted healthy growth, increasing 5.69 percent year-over-year. The West was the only region to buck the trend of monthly gains, posting a 0.56 percent decline in value from August to September. All four regions analyzed show annual growth ranging from a 4.22 percent increase in the Northeast to a 7.06 percent jump in the South.

“Rapid price increases that have spanned more than half a decade have started to affect affordability as average wage increases struggle to keep up,” said Banfield. “While home values are still rising, especially with solid annual jumps, a slowdown in monthly growth is expected to allow the market balance with the more moderate inflation.”