By Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily
Time heals all wounds as the old saying goes, and the decade that has passed since the housing crisis seems to have allowed many Americans to recover from its attendant shocks. The National Association of Realtors’® (NAR’s) 2017 National Housing Pulse Survey found that 84 percent of Americans now say purchasing a home is a good financial decision, the highest percentage since 2007.
Eight out of 10 respondents to the survey, which measures consumers’ attitudes and concerns about housing issues in the nation’s 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas, believe that the most important financial reason to own a home is that the money spent on housing goes towards building equity rather than to a property owner. Paying off a mortgage and owning a home by the time you retire is the next most important financial reason for buying a home followed by ownership being a good investment opportunity to build long-term wealth and increase net worth. In addition, over 50 percent of respondents strongly agree that homeownership helps build safe and secure neighborhoods and provides a stable and safe environment for children and family members.
