Job and employment figures may keep homeowners near the sidelines, but more Americans still value homeownership and consider it an investment worth making, according to a recent survey.
[IMAGE]Mortgage giant ""Fannie Mae"":http://www.fanniemae.com/portal/index.html polled some 3,000 respondents during the fourth quarter and revealed the figures in a Quarterly National Housing Survey Tuesday.
The results?
More Americans prefer homeownership to the alternative ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô renting ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô and see it as an investment in their futures.
[COLUMN_BREAK]""In spite of the impact of the housing crisis on home values and homeownership rates across the country, Americans by and large still hope to become homeowners,"" ""Doug Duncan"":http://www.fanniemae.com/portal/about-us/company-overview/leadership/duncan.html, VP and chief economist with Fannie Mae, said in a statement.
The survey said that the belief in homeownership extended to respondents across all education levels.
Signaling that homeownership remains important among many Americans, roughly two-thirds of renters said that they would make home purchases in the future.
Several characteristics made pessimism more likely among certain respondents, with African-Americans and Hispanics agreeing that it is more difficult to secure mortgage, and even more so in tough economic times.
Hispanics also felt less certain about the homeownership process.
Even so, African-Americans and Hispanics seemed more likely to portray homeownership as a way to generate wealth, accrue civic benefits, and show success in their personal lives.
""Some may not be financially positioned to own a home in the near future, but Americans may begin to revisit that aspiration as employment and household balance sheets improve over the coming years,"" Duncan added.