Housing Predictor Poll Results 2009

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Poll Says Tax Credit Will Work

The government tax credit to first time home buyers and expansion of the program will work to help the housing market recover, according to a new Predictor Poll. The survey found that a small majority of those polled feel the program will work to aid the housing market to stabilize.

Only 57% of those polled said the tax credit backed by Congress would aid the market in its recovery. Some 43% of those who responded said it would not be of help to the market. By such a thin margin, the survey may also show that when we ask about political issues people just don’t care that much since many folks are disillusioned with the political process. The online survey was taken over a three week period ending December 1st.

Congress recently approved an extension of the first time home buyers credit and expanded the program to move-up buyers, who have not purchased a home in five years. The National Association of Realtors credits the first time home buyers credit with nearly 2-million home purchases through the end of 2009.

Do you feel the extension and expansion of the first time home buyers’ tax credit will help the housing market to recover?

Yes   –   57% No   –   43%

Survey Says Congress Will Fail in Economic Crisis

An overwhelming majority of Americans believe Congress and other government policymakers will fail in their efforts to get the U.S. economy straightened out and halt the foreclosure epidemic, according to a new Predictor Poll.

The online survey was completed Sunday and it found that 81% of those polled do not feel that Congress will be able to get control of the foreclosure epidemic, which was first forecasted by Housing Predictor in 2006. The foreclosure crisis is at the heart of the nation’s recessionary economy.

The poll clearly shows that Americans have lost faith in Congress to solve the nation’s # 1 problem. More than 5-million homes have been foreclosed since the crisis started, and each foreclosure costs the U.S. economy an average of $225,000. The direct cost of foreclosures may also be measured in blighted neighborhoods in thousands of cities across the country. There are more than 19-million vacant homes in the U.S. today.

The repeal of the Glass-Seagal Act, which was instituted by Congress during the Great Depression to protect the nation’s economy from financial shocks, took lobbyists nearly a quarter century to have abolished. The move opened the flood gate for a series of complicated financial instruments to be developed that would go without regulatory controls and eventually damage the U.S. economy to the point where bankers had to be bailed-out by the government.

Will Congress and other U.S. government policymakers be able to halt the foreclosure epidemic to aid the economic recovery?

Yes   –   19% No   –   81%

Survey Demonstrates Optimism in Housing

Homeowners and renters are still mobile in their view of the housing market with more than 2 out of 3 planning to move within the next nine years, according to the latest Predictor Poll. The online survey was completed Monday.

Some 32% of those surveyed said they are planning a move within the next year, while another 18% said they intend to move in the next three years. An additional 18% surveyed said they plan on moving in four to nine years. The survey demonstrates optimism about the housing market, despite the un-winding of the financial crisis and lower real estate prices in almost all areas of the country.

Homeowners and renters surveyed feel very similar to trends before the financial crisis in housing when the average period of homeownership was seven years. The housing crash has sent home prices down at least an average of 30% in the least affected areas of the country and as much as 75% on individual homes in the worst affected markets. The epidemic of foreclosures is forecast to pull prices down further in the worst impacted markets.

How long do you plan on living in your present home?

Less than 1 year   –   32% Two to 3 years   –   18% Four to 9 years   –   18% Ten to 15 years   –   11% More than 15 years   –   20%

To see poll previous results from 2009 click here.

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