The Fannie Mae survey is conducted byrntelephone every month among a revolving panel of about 1,000 respondentsrnconsisting of renters, homeowners with mortgages, and homeowners without mortgages.  A subset of homeowners with mortgagesrnself-identify as being underwater with those mortgages.  The panel is asked a number of questions aboutrntheir attitudes toward homeownership, the economy, and their own personalrnfinancial situation.  Each month thernsurvey has a particularly focus and the current survey dealt with attitudesrntoward homeownership.</p

More than 90 percent of homeowners,rnwhether mortgaged or owning outright, believe that homeownership is preferable tornrenting.  Even homeowners who arernunderwater on their mortgages are proponents of owning rather than renting asrnare more than two-thirds of renters. rnThese numbers have remained quite stable across the eight quartersrnFannie Mae has conducted the survey even as housing prices have declined.   </p

</p

While a slight majority feel thatrnhomeownership has a high investment potential, fewer feel that it is a saferninvestment than did so a few years ago. rnApart from the investment potential, respondents cited safety and thernquality of local schools as the top reasons for buying homes.  African-Americans and Hispanics were morernlikely to cite other benefits such as a way to build wealth, civic benefits,rnand a symbol of achievement as benefits of homeownership while lower incomerngroups were more likely to cite the wealth building aspects of homeownershiprnthan were those making higher incomes. rnSixty-four percent of renters said they would probably purchase a homernat some point in time.</p

</p

While the majority of respondents viewedrnhomeownership as beneficial, financial constrains or an inability to secure arnmortgage may keep many from purchasing.  Manyrnof those surveyed citied the difficulty of getting a mortgage as a reason theyrndid not own a home including renters, those with lower levels of educationrnand/or lower income, African-Americans and Hispanics.  The latter two groups also said they were notrnconfident that they were getting adequate information to select a loan.</p

</p

“Inrnspite of the impact of the housing crisis on home values and homeownershiprnrates across the country, Americans by and large still hope to becomernhomeowners,” said Doug Duncan, vice president and chief economist of FanniernMae. “Some may not be financially positioned to own a home in the near future,rnbut Americans may begin to revisit that aspiration as employment and householdrnbalance sheets improve over the coming years.”</p

“A point of concern for the industryrnis that some consumers find the mortgage shopping process difficult tornnavigate,” Duncan continued. “If potential homeowners avoid the process becausernthey believe it to be too complex, we will likely see a continued impact onrnhomeownership rates.”

All Content Copyright © 2003 – 2009 Brown House Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.nReproduction in any form without permission of MortgageNewsDaily.com is prohibited.