Compact Equipment Magazine
Business and Software
New Poll Shows Housing Remains a Priority for Most Americans

New Poll Shows Housing Remains a Priority for Most Americans

By CE Staff August 4, 2016 View Profile

An overwhelming four-out-of-five Americans believe that owning a home is a good investment, according to a recent poll commissioned by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) to gauge public sentiment on the value of homeownership and government programs that encourage homeownership and housing production. A nationwide survey of more than 2,800 registered voters was conducted July 22-24 by the polling firm Morning Consult.

“The survey shows that most Americans believe that owning a home remains an integral part of the American Dream and that policymakers need to take active steps to encourage and protect homeownership,” said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady, a home builder and developer from Bloomington, Ill.

Among the key findings:

82 percent rate “a home for you to live in” a good or excellent investment (the highest of six choices), far ahead of the second option, retirement accounts, at 67 percent.
81 percent of 18-29-year-olds want to buy a home.
72 percent support the government providing tax incentives to encourage homeownership.
46 percent say now is a good time to buy a home, twice the 23 percent who say it is not.
36 percent would like to buy a home in the next three years.

Among those polled, 55 percent said the biggest obstacle to buying a home was finding a home at a price you can afford, followed by 50 percent who cited insufficient savings for a down payment and 41 percent who reported difficulty getting approved for a home loan.

The survey was evenly split on which presidential candidate would be best for housing. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents cited Hillary Clinton, 37 percent Donald Trump, and 25 percent reported “don’t know” or “no opinion.”