Homes Still a Favored Investment
Get widgets
Print
Facebook
RSS- By:
- Peter King | March 19, 2011
Americans still tend to think that buying a home is one of the best investments you can make, despite the battering home values suffered heading into the Great Recession.
Buying a home was ranked a better investment than putting money in the bank, according to a new survey on homeownership by insurance company Allstate and the National Journal. Asked to rate the best investment a person could make, 24 percent named buying a home, compared to only 20 percent who picked saving in a bank.
Homeownership trailed only investing in a retirement savings program like an IRA or 401k, chosen by 38 percent of survey participants. Only 6 percent chose the stock market as the best investment one could make.
The survey found that Americans still have a strong preference for homeownership, despite steep declines in property values and massive foreclosures in recent years. They still exhibit a strong preference for owning a home over renting, by 79-18 percent, and 70 percent said they would still advise buying a home to a friend or relative.
By about a 2-to-1 margin, most Americans think of the current housing crisis as temporary, with 63 percent saying they believe the nation will soon grow out of it, compared to 31 percent who think it will remain a problem for many years.
Mixed views on government role in housing
Americans seemed to have mixed views about the role of the government in the housing and mortgage markets. Asked who they blame for the housing crisis, the majority – 52 percent – blamed banks and lending institutions for misrepresenting borrower’s financial status and approving bad loans. Another 32 percent put the blame on individuals who bought homes and took out mortgages they couldn’t afford, while only 12 percent blamed government policies that encouraged too many people to buy homes.
At the same time, they remain evenly divided on whether government programs that promote homeownership should be maintained or scaled back, at 48 percent each way. Told that the government has spent at least $150 billion to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, however, and they favored reducing the government’s role in the housing market by a 50-42 percent margin.
Favor keeping mortgage interest deduction
Even so, they favor preserving the mortgage interest tax deduction by 50-43 percent. This may be because they don’t recognize the deduction as a government policy that boosts homeownership. Over three-quarters of respondents (76 percent) said they have not personally benefitted from a federal home ownership policy, including 71 percent of those who take the mortgage tax deduction.
Overall, the public appears to be skeptical about the government’s efforts to address the housing crisis, with 35 percent saying they have had a positive impact, 32 percent said the government’s policies have made the crisis worse and 26 percent said they had little impact at all.
The survey queried 1,000 adults, 800 by land line phone and 200 by cell phone, and was taken the first week of March.
Call For Rates
800-419-1494
Speak to a lender now.
We will match calls to our toll free number with our network of lenders.Mortgage Rate Quotes
National Rates
| Loan Type | Today | +/- |
|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.72 |
|
| 15 yr fixed | 3.03 |
|
| 5/1 ARM | 2.75 |
|
Rates may contain points
Browse Mortgage Rates
Featured Guides
Browse our comprehensive guides to popular topics related to mortgage and personal finance.