The FINANCIAL -- Overall confidence in housing values among homeowners has plummeted,
with the number who say their home is worth more than what they owe on
their mortgage lower than ever.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Adult Homeowners shows that just 45% now say their home is worth more than what they currently owe on their mortgage. That’s down six points from May and is the lowest level measured in more than two years of regular tracking. Prior to the latest survey, this finding had ranged from a low of 49% to a high of 61% since late 2008.
Thirty-six percent (36%) report their home’s value is not worth more than the amount they owe on their mortgage, showing little change over the past several months. One in five (20%) now are not sure.
Homeowners are increasingly pessimistic when talking about the value of their homes in the short and long term. Thirty-seven percent (37%) now expect their home's value to go down over the next year, up 10 points from last month and the highest negative finding to date. Just 16% believe their home’s value will be higher in a year's time, showing little change from the past two months.
Forty-four percent (44%) expect their home values to stay about the same over the next year, also down 10 points from a month ago.
Twenty-six percent (26%) believe their home’s value will go down in five years’ time, up 10 points over the past month and well above findings over the past two years. Thirty-five percent (35%) expect home values to go up over the next five years, down from 43% last month and the lowest finding yet measured. Twenty-nine percent (29%) expect the value to stay about the same over the next five years.
The survey of 713 Homeowners was conducted on June 17-18, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
Still, half of all homeowners (51%) say their home is worth more now than when they bought it. One in four homeowners (26%) say their home is worth less now, while 20% say it’s worth about the same amount.
Most homeowners (76%) are at least somewhat confident they know how much their home is worth in today’s market, including 38% who are Very Confident. Just 17% are not very or not at all confident they know what their home is worth.
Most homeowners (75%) say they bought their current home more than five years ago, while 12% have owned their home from three to five years. Nine percent (9%) have owned their home two years or less.
Those who have owned their home for two years or less are more likely to say their house is worth more than why they still owe on their mortgage.
Homeowners who make $40,000 or less a year are much less likely than those with higher incomes to say their home is worth more than what they owe.
Likely voters continue to see the economy as the most important on a list of 10 key issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports in terms of how they will vote in the next congressional election.
Nearly half of Americans believe they will be paying higher interest rates in a year's time, but that's the lowest finding in over two years.
Voters are more closely divided than they have been all year over which is more to blame for the nation’s current economic problems — the recession that began under President George W. Bush or the policies of President Barack Obama.
Thirty-four percent (34%) of consumers rate their personal finances as good or excellent, while 21% say they are in poor shape. Fifty percent (50%) of investors say their personal finances are good or excellent, while just eight percent (8%) rate them poorly.
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