37% Say Their Home Is Worth Less Than What They Owe On It

The number of American homeowners who say they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth is again at an all-time high.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of U.S. homeowners shows that 51% believe their home is worth more than the amount they still owe on their mortgage, down three points from last month.  But 37% say their home is not worth more than the amount left on their mortgage, tying the highest level ever first reached in September.  Thirteen percent (13%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Prior to September, the number of homeowners saying their home is worth less that what they still owe on their mortgage ranged from 28% to 36% in surveys since December 2008. In the same period, 45% to 61% have reported their home is worth more than what they still owe, although the finding has been in the low to mid-50s for much of that time.

Despite this pessimistic assessment, only four percent (4%) of homeowners say they’ve missed or been late on a mortgage payment in the past six months. Ninety-two percent (92%) have not. These findings have remained steady over the past year.

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The survey of 677 U.S. Homeowners was conducted on November 18-19, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.