Exclusive: most renters surveyed by Harris Poll say the areas they live in have become so unaffordable they are ‘barely livable’
The poll, conducted by the Harris Poll Thought Leadership and Future Practice, asked survey takers to identify themselves as renters or homeowners, along with other demographic information. Those polled were asked their opinion on home ownership in the United States. For many, especially renters, the outlook is bleak.
Though the vast majority of renters polled said they want to own a home in the future, 61% said they are worried they will never be able to. A similar percentage believe no matter how hard they work, they’ll never be able to afford a home.
“When you think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and housing is right at that foundational level of security, the implications on consumer psyche when things feel so unaffordable is something that will impact everyone,” said Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer at Harris Poll. The American dream of owning a home “is looking more like a daydream for renters”.
Not American, but the basis of America being “the greatest country on earth” (lol) was in working hard and contributing to society would give you ownership and freedom.
If that degree of ownership is equal or lower to every other developed country, that indicates that perhaps America is no better than anywhere else. It’s also worth noting that in some cultures people don’t care as much about home ownership, whereas in Western culture it is highly desired to own your home. If it’s as bad as places like the UK, which is currently in recession, and has had over a decade of low spending/earning, there’s something clearly wrong.
So, it is a relatively unique problem for America that they are equal or worse to other countries that either struggle to buy, or don’t care about buying.
Okay, I get what you’re saying. The poll in the article is on a U.S. based population and concerns their views on home ownership. The poll specifically asks the question “The American dream of home ownership is dead”, which I think is such an emotionally laden question that I wonder about the motivation of the pollster.
Regardless, if people have such perceptions then there’s a reason for them. My point was that we all know that countries like Denmark have better social safety nets for their population, and so that’s what I was comparing: homeownership is not any different in a country with better social safety net.
I think the root cause here is corporate access to real estate mortgages, and no country is brave enough to policy them out of such real estate purchasing (I think someone did, I think it was Canada, but only against foreign companies?). So it doesn’t matter what perception America has of itself, or any other country for that matter, if their home ownership levels are the same despite social safety nets in other countries. The root cause of people not becoming home owners seems to be unaddressed, regardless of country
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