If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

BUSINESS

New High: 80% Say Now Isn’t Time To Sell Home

Though the government reported a modest climb in housing starts in September, the number of adults nationwide who say now is not the time to sell a home has reached an all-time high. 

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of U.S. Adults shows that only nine percent (9%) believe now is a good time for someone in their area to sell their home. Eighty percent (80%) disagree and say it is not a good time to sell. That latter figure is up 10 points from September and the highest level of pessimism ever measured. The previous high—77%--was reached in February of last year. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

For the fifth straight month, less than half of Americans (48%) believe home-buying is the best investment a family can make. Twenty-five percent (25%) disagree and say this is not a family’s best bet while 27% are undecided.

In September 2008, 73% felt buying a home was the best investment a family could make. As recently as last September, 60% felt that way. That number first slipped below 50% in June of this year and has stayed there ever since.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on October 13-14, 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.

Want to read more?

Become a Rasmussen Reader to read the article

Have an account?

Log In

Become a Reader

Subscribe

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $4.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on upcoming elections, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.

To learn more about our methodology, click here.