RISMEDIA, April 8, 2010—A new Harris Poll provides some unpleasant numbers about the housing crisis and the collapse of the house price bubble. Twenty-four percent of people with mortgages believe they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. One in nine homeowners (11%) with mortgages report having “a great deal of difficulty” in paying off their mortgage. Another 18% are having “some difficulty.” This comes at a time when two-thirds of all adults (65%) are concerned that their families’ incomes “will not be enough to cover all their costs and expenses this year.”
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,320 adults surveyed online between March 1 and 8, 2010 by Harris Interactive.
Other interesting findings include:
-Over two-thirds (69%) of adults who are homeowners have a mortgage that they need to pay off.
-People whose homes are believed to be worth less than the money owed on their mortgages are common across all income groups. Twenty-six percent of adults with mortgages who have household incomes of $75,000 or more believe their homes are worth less than the balance of their mortgages.
-Almost a third (29%) of adults with mortgages are having some difficulty (18%) or a great deal of difficulty (11%) paying off their mortgages.
-Among those who believe their homes are worth less than their outstanding mortgages, 26% are having a great deal of difficulty and another 23% are having some difficulty paying them off.
-The two-thirds (65%) of all adults who are concerned about having enough income to cover all their costs and expenses include 26% who are very concerned and 39% who are somewhat concerned.
-Among those who believe that their homes are worth less than their mortgages, 42% are very concerned and another 38% are somewhat concerned about not having enough income to cover their costs.
-Unsurprisingly, income levels make a big difference. Concerns about not having enough income to cover costs and expenses is much higher among people with household incomes below $35,000 (40% are very concerned) than among those with incomes over $75,000 (16% are very concerned).
For more information, visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
