We've seen this over and over again.

While Americans seem to recognize that there's been this thing called the housing crash, they don't believe it's happened to them, or at least a lot don't.

Zillow: However, the third quarter of 2009 is a different story in both market behavior and homeowner perception. As individual markets behaved very differently (some improving, some flat, many still continuing to decline), homeowner perception was literally all over the map. And for the first time, one sector of homeowners — those in the Northeast — was overly cynical about home values. Meanwhile in the hardest-hit region of the country, the Western states, homeowners continued to be overly optimistic when evaluating the value of their own homes.

Nationwide, when asked about their own home’s value over the past year:

• 25% think their home’s value has increased

• 26% think their home’s value has stayed the same

• 49% think their home’s value has decreased

In reality, 72 percent of U.S. homes lost value over the past year, and 22 percent of homes increased in value. That’s fewer homes declining versus Q2(83%), and a smaller Misperception Index of 10 (vs. 13 in Q2 and 17 in Q3 2008). A Misperception Index of zero would mean homeowners’ perceptions were in line with actual values.