Thursday, January 27, 2011

Nearly Eight in 10 Americans Still Believe Buying a Home Makes Good Financial Sense


Excerpt from Nearly Eight in 10 Americans Still Believe Buying a Home Makes Good Financial Sense
By RISMEDIA


Nearly eight out of 10 respondents believe buying a home is a good financial decision, despite ongoing challenges with the economy and housing market. That’s according to the 2010 National Housing Pulse Survey, an annual report released by the National Association of Realtors. The survey, which measures how affordable housing issues affect consumers, also found job security concerns to be the highest in eight years of sampling, with 70% of Americans saying that job layoffs and unemployment are a big problem in their area; eight in 10 cite these issues as a barrier to homeownership.

Despite economic uncertainty, 68% of those surveyed still believe now is a good time to buy a home; while that number is down from last year (75%), it’s up from 2008 (66%) and 2007 (59%). Lower home prices and record-low mortgage interest rates may be attracting buyers to the housing market—more than one-fourth of renters said they are thinking more about buying a home than they were a year ago. Sixty-three percent of renter respondents said that owning a home is a priority in their future, and nearly 40% said it was one of their highest priorities.

Lower home prices have improved affordability. In fact, the percentage of renters who are worried that the cost of housing is getting so unaffordable that they will never be able to buy a home has decreased steadily since 2007, from 63% to 57%.

The good news is that Americans are seeing more stability in the real estate market. Nearly seven out of 10 believe that home values have stabilized in their area; the same number expects home sales to remain about the same through the end of the year.

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