Fannie Mae Releases New Research Study: Renters Are Satisfied, but Continuing to Reach for Homeownership

June 6, 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 6, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group today released a new research study that investigates the impact of consumer attitudes toward renting and homeownership on the future of housing in America. Data from Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey provides insights into whether current renters, particularly younger Americans, aspire to become homeowners and when they expect to achieve the goal of homeownership. Findings show:

Ninety percent of aspiring renters expect to purchase a home in the future, even though most have ranked their renting experience favorably.
- Renters who prefer to own appear to have a sense of measured optimism about their homeownership prospects, although most believe it would be difficult to get a mortgage today.
Forty-two percent of those who expect to buy believe that they will not be able to do so for at least five years.
- Despite the hurdles renters anticipate on the path to homeownership, many say they are renting now primarily as a stepping stone toward making that move in the future.
- Younger renters aged 18 to 34 are nearly twice as likely to say their main reason for renting is to prepare financially for future ownership, compared to renters aged 35 and up.

For more detailed findings from the National Housing Survey Topic Analysis Report, including an FM Commentary from research author Sarah Shahdad, click here.

Fannie Mae’s Topic Analysis Reports provide deeper insights into one or more housing issues based on the compilation of three monthly National Housing Survey samples. The National Housing Survey polls more than 1,000 homeowners and renters each month to assess their attitudes toward owning and renting a home, the current state of their household finances, views on the U.S. housing finance system, and overall confidence in the economy. The three monthly survey studies that make up any given Topic Analysis Report are identical in wording and placement of questions.

Opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views of Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group included in these materials should not be construed as indicating Fannie Mae’s business prospects or expected results, are based on a number of assumptions, and are subject to change without notice. How this information affects Fannie Mae will depend on many factors. Although the ESR Group bases its opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views on information it considers reliable, it does not guarantee that the information provided in these materials is accurate, current, or suitable for any particular purpose. Changes in the assumptions or the information underlying these views could produce materially different results. The analyses, opinions, estimates, forecasts, and other views published by the ESR Group represent the views of that group as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae or its management.

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