Housing Predictor Poll Results

beautiful sunset Bankers Should Sell Foreclosures at Discount

A large majority of those surveyed say bankers should slash the prices of foreclosed homes and sell them quickly at a discount. Apparently Americans feel the action will help produce a stabilization in the housing market.

A huge 70% surveyed in the Housing Predictor opinion poll said bankers and other mortgage lenders should quickly sell them at a discount. Some 23% said bankers should be forced to pay for maintenance and upkeep on foreclosures.

Earlier studies have shown that Americans overwhelmingly blame bankers and mortgage companies for making loans they should have never made to trigger the worst real estate crisis since the Great Depression. An estimated 5-million homeowners have been foreclosed since the crisis began, and millions more may be swept up into the foreclosure epidemic before it’s over.

Only 7% of those surveyed said the homeless should be housed in the foreclosed homes temporarily. The online poll was taken over a two week period ending March 7th.

What should be done with the glut of deteriorating foreclosed homes?

Make bankers pay for the maintenance of the property.  –     23% Quickly sell them at a discount.  –     70% Let the homeless live in them temporarily.  –       7%
Published March 7, 2010

Poll Shows Majority Want to Force Bankers

Half of all those polled say they want government leaders to force bankers to reduce mortgages for those at risk of foreclosure. The latest Housing Predictor poll asked the emotionally charged question and came back with fairly divided results, demonstrating many Americans are as self-centered and selfish as others make them out to be on the worldwide stage.

Although 50% of those surveyed said government should force bankers to modify mortgages, the second largest percentage or 42% responded that neither bankers nor government should bail-out troubled homeowners saying, “I realize that each foreclosure damages the economy, but it’s their problem not mine.”

The results come as the public level of frustration and anger with government rises over Congressional failures on a series of issues and growing hostility towards lawmakers, including the ailing economy and health care.

With 15-million more foreclosures forecast by Housing Predictor through 2015, the U.S. economy would be in ruin if all the foreclosures develop. But apparently the self-centered will of many Americans is more important than the overall economic health of the nation. The alarmingly high number of respondents who are not concerned about others may just demonstrate how the nation has changed dealing with the worst economy since the Great Depression.

Apparently fearing higher taxes to pay for modifications, only eight percent said that government should foot the bill for reducing mortgages. However, transparency behind the government’s housing rescue plan has been anything but vivid as the Treasury Department buys up billions and billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities, a large percentage of which are foreclosures.

Should the U.S. government or bankers help millions of homeowners at risk of foreclosure stay in their homes?

Bankers should be forced to modify mortgages to make them affordable.  –     50% The government should reduce mortgage payments and foot the bill.  –      8% I realize that each foreclosure damages the economy, but it’s their problem not mine.  –    42%
Published February 22, 2010

Poll Shows Americans Fed Up and Saying So

Americans clearly want the U.S. government to stop bail-outs and create a “New Deal” era sort of jobs program to get people that are out of work back at jobs. The latest Predictor Poll received the second highest number of votes since it started more than three years ago.

Asked how we get out of the financial crisis that started in the housing sector, respondents were forceful about their opinions. Thirty-nine percent said the government should stop bail-outs, and leave things alone for the economy to heal in time. We don’t know whether these folks are really free market types, believe in miracles or believe that even without government regulation to oversee financial markets things will somehow work out over the long run. But one thing is certain. The largest percentage want bail-outs halted.

The second largest group of respondents, 31% said the government should develop a sort of “New Deal” era jobs program to get people back to work. An estimated 7-million people have become unemployed since the start of the economic downturn. The survey was taken over the last three weeks, during which President Barack Obama announced a plan to develop such a program.

Some 23% said Congress should pass emergency legislation to insure that bankers and Wall Street traders aren’t allowed to make the same thing happen again. Divided by political differences and prodded by lobbyists bank rolls, nearly a year and a half after the Wall Street meltdown Congress is still debating financial reform.

Only seven percent of those surveyed said the Fed, Treasury Department and other government policy makers should keep working to straighten out the economy.

What’s the answer? How do we get out of the financial crisis that is crippling the American economy?

The Fed, Treasury Department and other government policy makers should keep working to create a healthy U.S. economy once again.  –     7% Stop government bail-outs. Leave things alone and the economy will heal in time.  –   39% The government should create a “New Deal” sort of jobs program to get people back to work.  –   31% Pass emergency legislation to stop bankers and Wall Street executives from repeating the same things that caused the crisis so it doesn’t happen again.  –   23%
Published February 7, 2010

Majority Say Government Efforts Will Fail

An over-whelming majority surveyed say that government efforts to fix the U.S. economy and the housing mess will fail, according to the latest Housing Predictor poll. The survey clearly indicates doubts about the White House and Congress ability to improve the economic downturn.

Despite billions of dollars spent to bail-out banks, buy mortgage-backed securities and a series of other efforts the survey shows that confidence to fix the worst economy since the Great Depression is failing to generate a turn in public sentiment. Some 79% of those surveyed say they do not feel that government efforts will work to improve the economy. Only 21% said they believe the present course of action will work.

Lawmakers and other government policy makers have allocated more than $5-tillion to get the country on a course to a better economy. Congress extended and expanded the first time home buyers’ tax credit to move-up buyers even as unemployment looms around 10% nationally, and much higher in some areas of the nation.

Growing public outcries against further bail-outs have reached fever levels as big bank executives collect record size bonuses on Wall Street generated from government funds supplied by tax payers.

The foreclosure crisis is forecast to produce more than 3.5-million more foreclosed properties in 2010. The flood of foreclosures along with high unemployment is expected to halt economic recovery from developing as ranks of the unemployed wait to make any sizeable purchases, including real estate until after they go back to work.

Do you think government actions will ever straighten out the economy and fix the housing mess?

No   –   79% Yes   –   21%

Despite Economy, Most Feel Safe at Home

Despite the troubled economy, most people feel safe in their homes, according to a new Housing Predictor poll. At the start of the New Year the old saying that “a man’s home is his castle” still rings true.

The survey found that an over-whelming majority of 89% feel safe in the confines of their homes. Only 11% said they felt unsafe in their place of residence. The sanctity of the family home still rings high on the list of being the place that most often is the safest place to be even in these troubled economic times.

A growing number of homeowners and tenants are tossing the idea of going out to eat, making a trip to the mall or other places in exchange for staying close to home. The survey also shows that while foreclosures climb at exorbitant record levels the over-whelming majority still feel safe at home.

Do you feel that your home or living dwelling is a safe place to reside?

Yes   –   89% No   –   11%

To see poll previous results from 2009 click here.

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