NY Times: Despite Fears, Owning Home Retains Allure, Poll Shows

Owning a house remains central to Americans’ sense of well-being, even as many doubt their home is a good investment after a punishing recession.

Erik S. Lesser for The New York Times


Making an offer for a house, something often done in past generations with little apprehension, is now riddled with worry. Only 49 percent call it a safe investment, while 45 percent feel it is risky.
Nearly one-quarter of homeowners say their home is now worth less than what they owe on their mortgage, a condition known as being underwater.

Nearly nine in 10 Americans say homeownership is an important part of the American dream, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. And they are keen on making sure it stays that way, for themselves and everyone else.
Support for helping people in financial distress over housing is higher than support for helping those without a job for many months.

Forty-five percent of the respondents say the government should be doing more to improve the housing market, while 16 percent say it should be doing less. On the politically contentious issue of direct financial assistance to those having trouble paying their mortgages, slightly more than half of those polled, 53 percent, say the government should help. And almost no one favors discontinuing the mortgage tax deduction, a prized middle-class benefit that has been featured on some budget-cutting proposals.

President Obama, who has been criticized for both doing too much to help the housing market and for not doing enough, was given poor marks. Only 36 percent of those polled approve of what Mr. Obama has done, while 45 percent disapprove.

In assessing blame for the housing crash, people are increasingly seeing financial institutions as the central culprit.


Link to the rest:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/business/30poll.html?_r=1&emc=na

After getting drunk on the home-as-piggy-bank concept for decades, it won't be easy for many of them. And, of course, the real/perceieved wealth of real estate appreciation was a spending driver since 1980. This, too, has gone, the acceptance of which may be the biggest impediment to understanding the reality of this economy.

die here too. I would burn it down with me inside before I would give it up.

We agree