2007 Housing Opportunity Pulse Survey

Survey Reveals Concern About Lack of Affordable Housing Options

NAR’s fifth annual pulse survey revealed that concerns about the availability of affordable housing persisted despite the price depreciation experienced recently in some markets. The nationwide survey explored many of the same issues as previous surveys, and also examined the attitudes of Americans about the housing market in the wake of the subprime mortgage market fallout. Participants in the October 2007 survey remained largely positive about the future outlook for housing in their respective areas.

The telephone survey of 1,000 urban and suburban adults in the top 25 media markets was conducted for NAR by Public Opinion Strategies, a national political and public affairs research firm in Alexandria, Va.

Some key results include:

• Nearly six of ten (59%) Americans believe that now is a good time to buy a home.
• Nearly nine of ten (87%) Americans believe that buying a home is a good financial decision.
• Lack of affordable housing ranks second in concerns of Americans behind lack of affordable healthcare, above concerns such as unemployment, terrorism, the environment, and crime.
• 83% of Americans are concerned about having enough money for a down payment on a home, up from 74% in 2003. Similarly, 63% are concerned that their mortgage applications will not be approved, up from 56% in 2003.
• In areas where home prices are above the national median price, 63% of respondents viewed housing affordability as a major problem. Only 16% of respondents in these markets did not view housing prices as a problem.
• 63% of renters are worried that the cost of housing is getting so high that they will never be able to afford their own home.

Review the analytical overview of survey results/key findings (PowerPoint: 220KB) and complete survey results (PDF: 48KB)

Read the NAR press release 

Review additional Housing Opportunity Research