The American Dream – a chicken in every pot, a car in every garage, a kid or two and owning your own home. During the last few years, owning your own home seemed to be dropping from the dream list but a recent survey finds Americans aren’t giving up hope.
Americans think owning a home is still a good idea, despite recent housing woes, according to survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors released in January 2011. Homeowners surveyed for the American Attitudes about Homeownership study reported overwhelmingly that not only are they happy with choosing to own a home – 93 percent would do it again – 95 percent feel it makes more sense to own a home.
Home owners are happier with their family life as well. More than half of the home owners surveyed are “very” or “extremely” happy with their family although only 33 percent of renters are as satisfied with their family life. Nearly two-thirds of renters think they will buy a house at some point in the future but feel that concerns about credit and job security are stumbling blocks to making this happen.
Home owners and renters alike feel the mortgage interest deduction (MID) is an important policy that the government shouldn’t fiddle with. Almost three-fourths of home owners and 62 percent of renters don’t think the MID should be changed.
Looking at the results of this survey, it is likely that as the American economy revs up, the real estate market will as well and the American Dream will go on.