July 15, 2011 (Chris Moore)
The recent batch of housing proposals are failing to gain approval by the American public, especially the proposal for a required 20 percent down payment, with 7 out of 10 saying that such a requirement would have a negative impact on the housing market according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) ninth Housing Pulse Survey.
An even larger amount, 77 percent, said they would be less likely to consider buying a new home if they were required to come up with the proposed 20 percent down payment. According to current homeowners, the poll said only 39 percent would have been able to buy a home if they were required to meet that standard.
Even without the proposed 20 percent down payment requirement, 82 percent of the respondents felt that coming up with the funds for a down payment and closing costs was the largest obstacle to purchasing a home.
Washington politicians should also be wary of thinking about eliminating the mortgage interest deduction as two out of every three Americans oppose eliminating the popular tax deduction. Fifty-one percent strongly opposed the elimination of the mortgage interest deduction as a means of reducing the federal deficit.
When asked if they believed that eliminating the home mortgage interest deduction would have a negative effect on the housing market, 73 percent felt that it would and 65 percent felt it would have a negative effect on the overall economy.
The economy and foreclosures continued to be on the minds of Americans as well. Eighty percent of those surveyed said job security is a “huge” or “medium-sized” obstacle to home ownership with 61 percent ranking job lay-offs and unemployment as the top problem areas. Home foreclosures ranked “very big’ or fairly big” problems with 47 percent of the Americans surveyed.
But amazingly, despite all the current bleak housing and economic news, 72 percent of those surveyed said that they still considered buying a home a good financial decision and 64 percent believed that now is a good time to buy a home.
Tags: NAR, Housing Pulse Survey, 20 percent down payment, mortgage interest deduction, politicians, economy, foreclosures, good financial decision
Source:
NAR
