Few Expect Housing to Rebound Soon

By:: Peter King | December 08, 2010

Over half of all Americans think it will take at least two years for the housing market to recover, with more than one in five saying it won’t happen until 2015 or later.

That’s according to a new survey from real estate data companies Trulia and RealtyTrac, released today. The survey also found that Americans are increasingly willing to consider walking away from a mortgage on which they owe more than the property is worth.

The online survey, conducted in early November, found that 58 percent of Americans think the housing market will not recover until 2013 at the earliest, with 22 percent saying it will take until 2015 or later. Only 10 percent think the market will recover next year, with 27 percent expecting a housing recovery in 2012.

“More and more, American homeowners, sellers and buyers are tamping down their expectations for a swift recovery in the housing market and bracing themselves for a long, slow climb back to a healthy real estate market, said said Pete Flint, Trulia co-founder and CEO.

Flint noted that the housing market continues to struggle despite the government’s efforts to boost it through record-low interest rates and the homebuyer tax credit. On top of that, he said, the recent robo-signing crisis has created anxiety among consumers and undermined their confidence in both banks and the government.

On top of the pessimism over the market in general, the survey found that nearly half of all homeowners with a mortgage said they would consider walking away from the property if they owed more than the property was worth. Forty-eight percent said they would consider deliberately defaulting on an underwater mortgage, even if they were still able to make the payments, up from 41 percent last May.

Men were more likely than women to consider a so-called “strategic default,” with 57 percent saying they would consider it compared to 40 percent of women.

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