| Rasmussen Reports: 63% Say Housing Market Will Improve Only When Economy Does |
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25/09/2009 14:59 (57 Day 01:29 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- Americans are slightly more confident that government action can help the housing market, but a sizable majority continues to believe that the market will only improve when the overall economy gets better.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 63% of Americans say, generally speaking, the housing market will only improve when the economy itself improves. But that’s down eight points from July and matches the finding in February when President Obama announced a national mortgage assistance plan.
Twenty-six percent (26%) of adults now say it is possible for targeted government programs to help the housing market, up from 21% in July. Eleven percent (11%) are not sure.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of all Americans think it is better for the economy for the government to stay out of the housing market rather than for taxpayers to help subsidize new home buying. Just half as many – 27% - say it’s better to subsidize the purchase of new homes. Twenty percent (20%) are not sure.
Seventy-one percent (71%) of Republicans and 74% of adults not affiliated with either major party say improvement in the housing market is dependent on the overall economy. Democrats, on the other hand, are much more closely divided on the question.
Again, 70% of Republicans and 60% of unaffiliateds say the government should stay out of the housing market. Democrats by a modest margin tend to favor subsidizing new home purchases.
Investors oppose government involvement in the housing market more strongly than non-investors.
But most Americans like the soon-to-expire program that provides first-time home buyers with tax credits of up to $8,000, at least until they hear how much it costs. Then a solid plurality oppose it.
Adults are evenly divided on whether it’s more important to make it easier for people to buy their first home or more important to keep the value of existing homes as high as possible. Thirty-nine percent (39%) say first homes should be the housing priority, while 40% say existing homes should take precedence. Twenty percent (21%) are undecided.
These findings are virtually identical to last December when 42% said it was more important to make it easier for individuals to buy their first home, while 41% said the emphasis should be on keeping home values as high as possible.
However, there are partisan differences on this question, too. Fifty-five percent (55%) of Democrats say it is more important to make it easier for first-time home buyers, while 54% of Republicans put the emphasis on keeping the value of existing homes as high as possible. Unaffiliated adults are almost evenly divided.
Homeowners remain fairly pessimistic about the housing market in the short-term but also continue to be optimistic about its long-term prospects.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of voters worry, though, that the government will do too much in response to the country’s continuing economic problems. Thirty-nine percent (39%) are concerned that the government will not do enough.
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