One-Third of Homeowners Still Say They Owe More Than Their House is Worth
One-in-three homeowners now say they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth, but slightly fewer expect to miss a house payment in the next six months.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 57% of homeowners say their home is worth more than the amount they owe on their mortgage. Thirty-two percent (32%) say they owe more than their house is worth. Another 11% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Those numbers have shown little change over the past year. In November, 56% said their home was worth more than their mortgage, while 30% disagreed.
But only nine percent (9%) of homeowners say it’s at least somewhat likely they will miss a mortgage payment in the next six months, with four percent (4%) who think it is Very Likely. Eighty-nine percent (89%) do not see that outcome as likely, including 50% who say it’s Not At All Likely.
In November, 12% said it was likely they’d miss a mortgage payment. In June, 14% said it was likely they’d miss a payment.
By comparison, 12% of Americans with credit cards said just before Christmas that they expect to miss a bill payment in the next six months.
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The survey of 670 Homeowners was conducted on January 2-3, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
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