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?As a new Federal foreclosure policy unfolds in the months to come, public opinion will certainly play a central role. It’s clear that people have strong opinions and a candid and vigorous debate will improve the chances for a successful outcome. The outcome could shape the real estate markets for many years to come,? said David Lereah, president of Reecon Advisors Inc., an independent real estate economics and information company that recently conducted a national survey of Americans’ attitudes about how the $700 billion bailout ought to be spent.
The results of the poll, released on Tuesday, indicate that a majority (51 percent) of Americans responding oppose using bailout funds to help pay the mortgages of homeowners in default. Men, seniors and those living in the Northeast region treated defaulting homeowners the harshest. More than 58 percent of men and more than 56 percent of both the elderly and Northeast residents participating in the survey indicated they opposed bailing out homeowners. Support for extending a helping hand to homeowners in default was strongest among young people and those with annual earnings of less than $20,000. Among young people between the ages of 18 and 24, 69.1 percent support aiding homeowner in default as do 60.1 percent of those earning less than $20,000 annually.
The survey also revealed that consumer confidence in real estate is significantly higher than in the stock market despite declining property values. More than 53 percent of those surveyed believe real estate is a better long-term investment than the stock market while only 30.8 percent think the stock market is the better long-term investment given the current state of the economy. Those in in South (58.6 percent), West (58.4 percent) and young people in the 18 to 24 age group expressed confidence in real estate. Confidence in the stock market was highest (63.9 percent) among those between 35 and 49 years of age.
When asked which will recover first the stock market or real estate markets, 46 percent chose the stock market and 43.2 percent chose real estate. These results were within the survey margin of error and are therefore not statistically significant.
These findings indicate that there are significant political barriers to proposals now being drafted in Congress to use some of the remaining $700 billion of bailout funds to help stem foreclosures by helping defaulting homeowners with their mortgages,? said Lereah.
The poll is the first in a series of opinion surveys on issues critical to real estate markets to be conducted by Reecon Advisors, Inc. for the Reecon Advisory Report, a weekly newsletter launched in January 2009. The telephone survey was conducted December 19-21, 2008 by GFK Custom Research. A total of 1,004 interviews were completed, with 524 female participants and 480 male participants. The margin of error on weighted data is +3 percentage points for the full sample. All completed interview are weighted to ensure accurate and reliable representation of the total population, 18 years and older. Reecon Advisors, Inc. is a leading independent real estate economics and information company in the real estate industry.
Last 3 posts by Jay Hammond
- Mortgage modification law threatens right to representation in California - July 15th, 2009
- How Cities & States are coping with foreclosure - July 10th, 2009
- Freddie Mac educates borrowers via YouTube - July 9th, 2009
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