According to a Pew Research Center survey, 80 percent of Americans believe that owning your own home is “the best long-term investment a person could make”[1]. The intensity of this belief, however, is wavering, with 12 percent fewer “strongly agreeing” with that statement than did last time Pew did the survey. Perhaps not entirely surprisingly, Pew also reported that “adults 65 and older are more sold on the investment value of homeownership than any other age group.” Only 35 percent of those 18 to 29 strongly believe that owning a home is the best investment a person can make.
Kim Parker, associate director for the Pew Research Center, believes that American faith in real estate is linked more closely to ideals than reality[2]. “Owning a home is really part of the American dream, and that is just part of the American psyche and something people aspire to,” she explained. However, the results were still surprising, she admits, “given the deep plunge in home prices and the fallout from the mortgage crisis.” Home ownership actually ranked higher in importance to most respondents than sending kids to college or leaving an inheritance.
Do you think that this is a healthy perception of home ownership in today’s real estate market?
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[1] http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/04/12/real-estate-bust-hasnt-dimmed-americans-faith-in-real-estate/?mod=google_news_blog
[2] http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pew-homeownership-20110412,0,2943484.story
