Twenty-Seven Million People with Mortgages Believe They Owe More than Their Homes Are Worth
Location: New York
Author:
Alyssa Hall
Date: Wednesday, April 7, 2010
A new Harris Poll provides some unpleasant numbers about the housing crisis and the collapse of the house price bubble. Fully 24% of people with mortgages believe they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. One in nine homeowners (11%) with mortgages report having “a great deal of difficulty” in paying off their mortgage. Another 18% are having “some difficulty.” This comes at a time when two-thirds of all adults (65%) are concerned that their families’ incomes “will not be enough to cover all their costs and expenses this year.”
“will not be enough to cover all their costs and expenses this year.”
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,320 adults surveyed online between March 1 and 8, 2010 by Harris Interactive.
Other interesting findings include:
- Over two-thirds (69%) of adults who are homeowners have a mortgage that they need to pay off.
- People whose homes are believed to be worth less than the money owed on their mortgages are common across all income groups. Fully 26% of adults with mortgages who have household incomes of $75,000 or more believe their homes are worth less than the balance of their mortgages.
- Almost a third (29%) of adults with mortgages are having some difficulty (18%) or a great deal of difficulty (11%) paying off their mortgages.
| Among those who believe their homes are worth less than their outstanding mortgages, fully 26% are having a great deal of difficulty and another 23% are having some difficulty paying them off. |
So what?
These findings underline the very large number of people whose homes are worth less than their outstanding mortgages and the even larger numbers who are worried about covering their costs and expenses generally. If the percentages are converted into numbers, approximately 27 million adults believe they are “under water” – that their houses are worth less than their mortgage debts.
| TABLE 1 | ||||||
| HOW MANY HOME OWNERS HAVE A MORTGAGE? | ||||||
| "Do you have a mortgage on your home that you need to pay off?” | ||||||
| Base: Adults who own home | ||||||
| All Home Owners | ||||||
| % | ||||||
| Yes, paying off mortgage | 69 | |||||
| Had mortgage but it is paid off | 20 | |||||
| No, do not have nor have ever had a mortgage | 11 | |||||
| TABLE 2 | ||||||||||||||
| HOUSE WORTH MORE OR LESS THAN AMOUNT OWED ON MORTGAGE | ||||||||||||||
| “Is your house currently worth more or less than the amount you owe on your mortgage?” | ||||||||||||||
| Base: Adults who have a mortgage | ||||||||||||||
| Adults Who Have a Mortgage |
Household Income | |||||||||||||
| $34,999 or Less |
$35,000 To $49,999 |
$50,000 To $74,999 |
$75,000 + |
|||||||||||
| % | % | % | % | % | ||||||||||
| MORE (NET) | 55 | 57 | 51 | 55 | 58 | |||||||||
| A lot more | 24 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 28 | |||||||||
| A little more | 31 | 38 | 30 | 33 | 29 | |||||||||
| About the same | 18 | 22 | 16 | 22 | 15 | |||||||||
| LESS (NET) | 24 | 17 | 32 | 23 | 26 | |||||||||
| A little less | 12 | 8 | 15 | 13 | 14 | |||||||||
| A lot less | 11 | 9 | 17 | 11 | 12 | |||||||||
| Decline to answer | 3 | 5 | 2 | - | 1 | |||||||||
| Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding. | ||||||||||||||
| Note: All of the numbers listed here refer to people, which is greater than the number of homes involved. | ||||||||||||||
| TABLE 3 | |||||||||||
| HAVING DIFFICULTY PAYING OFF MORTGAGE | |||||||||||
| “How much difficulty are you having paying off your mortgage?” | |||||||||||
| Base: Adults who have mortgage | |||||||||||
| Adults Who Have a Mortgage |
Value of House Worth Less Than Mortgage |
||||||||||
| % | % | ||||||||||
| A great deal of difficult | 11 | 26 | |||||||||
| Some difficulty | 18 | 23 | |||||||||
| A little bit of difficult | 23 | 26 | |||||||||
| No difficulty at all | 45 | 23 | |||||||||
| Decline to answer | 3 | 1 | |||||||||
| Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding. | |||||||||||
| Note: All of the numbers listed here refer to people, which is greater than the number of homes involved. | |||||||||||
| TABLE 4 | ||||||||||||||
| CONCERN ABOUT NOT HAVING ENOUGH INCOME TO COVER ALL COSTS | ||||||||||||||
| “How concerned are you that your family’s income will not be enough to cover all your costs and expenses this year?” | ||||||||||||||
| Base: All adults | ||||||||||||||
| Total | Own/Rent Home | Paying Off Mortgage |
Having Difficulty Paying Off Mortgage |
House Worth Less Than Mortgage |
||||||||||
| Own | Rent | |||||||||||||
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |||||||||
| CONCERNED (NET) | 65 | 62 | 74 | 66 | 93 | 80 | ||||||||
| Very concerned | 26 | 22 | 36 | 24 | 60 | 42 | ||||||||
| Somewhat concerned | 39 | 39 | 38 | 41 | 34 | 38 | ||||||||
| Not very concerned | 24 | 25 | 19 | 24 | 6 | 12 | ||||||||
| Not at all concerned | 12 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 8 | ||||||||
| Note: All of the numbers listed here refer to people, which is greater than the number of homes involved. | ||||||||||||||
| TABLE 5 | ||||||||||||||
| CONCERNED ABOUT NOT HAVING ENOUGH INCOME – BY HOUSEHOLD INCOME | ||||||||||||||
| “How concerned are you that your family’s income will not be enough to cover all your costs and expenses this year?” | ||||||||||||||
| Base: All adults | ||||||||||||||
| Total | Household Income | |||||||||||||
| $34,999 or Less |
$35,000 To $49,999 |
$50,000 To $74,999 |
$75,000 + |
|||||||||||
| % | % | % | % | % | ||||||||||
| CONCERNED (NET) | 65 | 81 | 71 | 65 | 52 | |||||||||
| Very concerned | 26 | 40 | 35 | 23 | 16 | |||||||||
| Somewhat concerned | 39 | 40 | 36 | 42 | 36 | |||||||||
| Not very concerned | 24 | 15 | 20 | 24 | 31 | |||||||||
| Not at all concerned | 12 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 17 | |||||||||
| Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding. | ||||||||||||||
| Note: All of the numbers listed here refer to people, which is greater than the number of homes involved. | ||||||||||||||
To subscribe or visit go to: http://www.riskcenter.com