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Voting Housing Consumers to Washington, D.C. 'We Are Too Big to Fail'

January 18, 2012

With a presidential election on the horizon, America's housing consumers are sending a resounding message to the federal government: "Bail us out!"

by Broderick Perkins

According a host of studies, candidates who don't champion today's housing issues could be looking for a new job next November 2nd.

The most recent, the Yahoo! Home Horizons 2012 survey of 1,500 current and hopeful homeowners, reports 51 percent of American adults agree the government should do more to rescue at-risk homeowners; 27 percent disagree and 22 percent don't have an opinion.

The Yahoo! study also finds that 43 percent of those surveyed believe the national election will have a large influence on the housing market but Republicans got the short end of the stick.

The survey reported 39 percent of those surveyed said a Republican majority would have a negative impact on the housing market, compared to only 32 percent who said Democrats would make things worse.

Among those surveyed, 35 percent said Democrats would have a better impact on housing; 27 percent said Republicans would boost the housing market.

Unfortunately, with less than a year before the national elections, there's little front-and-center discussion about housing from either the Republicans or the Obama administration, as they wrangle, preoccupied with the budget business.

Tax benefits promote homeownership
In another study, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) found that housing tax breaks are as American as apple pie.

Nearly three out of four voters - 73 percent of both owners and renters - believe Uncle Sam ought to provide tax benefits to promote homeownership - not cut them as some politicians want.

The sentiment cut across party lines with 79 percent of Democrats, 71 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of Independents supporting tax perks that come with homeownership.

Even if getting rid of the mortgage interest deduction would help ease the federal budget deficit, 65 percent of voters opposed any proposal to abolish the tax provision, with 69 percent of Republicans, 69 percent of Independents and 59 percent of Democrats opposing eliminating the deduction.

Majority: Oust candidates against the mortgage interest deduction
Majority sentiment against voting for a candidate who supports eliminating the mortgage interest deduction cut not only across party lines, but also across party factions.

The NAHB survey found that by a more than two-to-one margin (57 percent to 26 percent), voters said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supports eliminating the mortgage interest deduction, including 63 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of Independents, 55 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Tea Party supporters saying they would be less likely to support a candidate who favored killing the deduction.

Finally another survey reveals, from sea to shining sea, voters aren't shy about who they want in office -- elected officials who see housing as an economic cornerstone critical to recovery.

Candidates’ positions on housing will be important to the decisions of nearly 70 percent of Americans when they go to the polls in the 2012 election and more than 80 percent of Americans believe housing is critical to economic recovery, according to a national survey released by Move, Inc., an online network of real estate web sites, including Realtor.com.

Nearly one in three of those surveyed think helping homeowners avoid foreclosure should be the next presidential priority in his or her first 100 days in office. Keeping interest rates low (26.4 percent) ranked second and making more affordable mortgage credit available (14 percent) placed third.