The economy may be improving, but a majority of Americans feel the country is still in a housing crisis, according to a survey by the MacArthur Foundation released Tuesday.
Fifty-one percent of those surveyed for How Housing Matters feel the country is still facing a housing challenge and an additional 19 percent think the worst is yet to come for the housing market.
The survey of 1,355 Americans, both renters and homeowners, was designed to determine attitudes toward home ownership. Results showed that 70 percent of people still want to own a home, but ownership is not viewed as favorably as it once was.
Forty-three percent of those surveyed say home ownership may not be a good investment anymore.
“Homeownership remains an important aspiration for people, but attitudes are shifting,” says Geoff Garin of Hart Research Associates, which conducted the survey for the MacArthur Foundation. Fifty-eight percent of people believe renters can be as successful at attaining the American dream as homeowners.
More than half of the respondents say they have made a serious sacrifice in the last three years to retain their housing. The sacrifices that were made include such things as working two jobs, piling up credit card debt, or moving to a less safe neighborhood.
The survey asked people about the housing opportunities in their local communities and 58 percent say it is difficult to find affordable rental housing, while an almost equal number (59 percent) say it is difficult to find houses to buy. Forty-seven percent say they have felt insecure or unstable because of housing challenges in the last three years.
Those surveyed feel the government can help solve the housing problem and most (58 percent) want the government to invest in renting and home ownership equally.