Americans Still Want to Own a Home

Posted on 21. Feb, 2011 by Gillian Luce in Real Estate News

Even in the current economy, home ownership is still a goal for many Americans and there are still benefits to becoming a home owner.

Even with record affordability and buyer incentives many critics are fear rising foreclosure rates may scare home buyers away from the housing market. But that opinion doesn’t accurately represent all the information.

“People are passionate about the American dream of home ownership,” said National Association of Realtors® President Ron Phipps, broker-president of Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I.

Home ownership is not only valuable for the individual, but families, communities and our economy.

According to a Washington Times article, “Real Estate Reality Check,” home ownership creates jobs. Housing accounts for 19 percent of our gross domestic product and every home purchased pumps $60,000 into the local and national economies. That same article also states that home ownership is better for people over the long term. Even after the housing correction, the average net worth of the average American homeowner is $175,000, compared to just $4,000 for the average American renter.

Benefits of Owning a Home

So let’s take a step back. Here are some benefits of buying a home in this current economy:

Affordable interest rates
Buyer incentives
Personal gain
Increased net worth
Local economy benefits
National economy benefits

Now we’re not stating that people should buy a home they are not ready to maintain or can’t pay for. The decision to buy a home should be carefully considered. But the public needs to be aware that even in the current economy home ownership is still a goal for many Americans and there are still benefits to becoming a home owner. To support that point, according to a survey conducted last year by Bankrate.com, 90% of respondents said they had no regrets buying their current home.

“The people of the United States have believed for 234 years that property ownership is a core value for this country,” said Phipps. “For centuries, people have fought for the right to own land, and even today, people still come to America to fulfill that dream. To say that America should no longer invest in home ownership, to say that we should stop encouraging people to own a home because the system failed them is to forget who we are as a nation.”