Twenty-Seven Million People with Mortgages Believe They Owe More than Their Homes Are Worth

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100406005421/en

Two-Thirds of All Adults Are Concerned That They Will Not Have Enough Money to
Cover All Their Costs and Expenses
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
A new Harris Poll provides some unpleasant numbers about the housing crisis and
the collapse of the house price bubble. Fully 24% of people with mortgages
believe they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. One in nine
homeowners (11%) with mortgages report having "a great deal of difficulty" in
paying off their mortgage. Another 18% are having "some difficulty." This comes
at a time when two-thirds of all adults (65%) are concerned that their families`
incomes "will not be enough to cover all their costs and expenses this year."

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,320 adults surveyed online
between March 1 and 8, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

Other interesting findings include:

* Over two-thirds (69%) of adults who are homeowners have a mortgage that they
need to pay off.
* People whose homes are believed to be worth less than the money owed on their
mortgages are common across all income groups. Fully 26% of adults with
mortgages who have household incomes of $75,000 or more believe their homes are
worth less than the balance of their mortgages.
* Almost a third (29%) of adults with mortgages are having some difficulty (18%)
or a great deal of difficulty (11%) paying off their mortgages.

Among those who believe their homes are worth less than their outstanding mortgages, fully 26% are having a great deal of difficulty and another 23% are having some difficulty paying them off.

* The two-thirds (65%) of all adults who are concerned about having enough
income to cover all their costs and expenses include 26% who are very concerned
and 39% who are somewhat concerned.
* Among those who believe that their homes are worth less than their mortgages,
fully 42% are very concerned and another 38% are somewhat concerned about not
having enough income to cover their costs.
* Unsurprisingly, income levels make a big difference. Concerns about not having
enough income to cover costs and expenses is much higher among people with
household incomes below $35,000 (40% are very concerned) than among those with
incomes over $75,000 (16% are very concerned).

So what?

These findings underline the very large number of people whose homes are worth
less than their outstanding mortgages and the even larger numbers who are
worried about covering their costs and expenses generally. If the percentages
are converted into numbers, approximately 27 million adults believe they are
"under water" - that their houses are worth less than their mortgage debts.

TABLE 1
HOW MANY HOME OWNERS HAVE A MORTGAGE?
"Do you have a mortgage on your home that you need to pay off?"
Base: Adults who own home
All Home Owners

%
Yes, paying off mortgage 69
Had mortgage but it is paid off 20
No, do not have nor have ever had a mortgage 11

TABLE 2
HOUSE WORTH MORE OR LESS THAN AMOUNT OWED ON MORTGAGE
"Is your house currently worth more or less than the amount you owe on your mortgage?"
Base: Adults who have a mortgage
Adults Household Income
Who
Have a
Mortgage
$34,999 $35,000 $50,000 $75,000
or Less To To +
$49,999 $74,999
% % % % %
MORE (NET) 55 57 51 55 58
A lot more 24 19 21 22 28
A little more 31 38 30 33 29
About the same 18 22 16 22 15
LESS (NET) 24 17 32 23 26
A little less 12 8 15 13 14
A lot less 11 9 17 11 12
Decline to answer 3 5 2 - 1
Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.
Note: All of the numbers listed here refer to people, which is greater than the number of homes involved.

TABLE 3
HAVING DIFFICULTY PAYING OFF MORTGAGE
"How much difficulty are you having paying off your mortgage?"
Base: Adults who have mortgage
Adults Who Value of House
Have a Worth Less Than
Mortgage Mortgage
% %
A great deal of difficult 11 26
Some difficulty 18 23
A little bit of difficult 23 26
No difficulty at all 45 23
Decline to answer 3 1
Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.
Note: All of the numbers listed here refer to people, which is greater than the number of homes involved.

TABLE 4
CONCERN ABOUT NOT HAVING ENOUGH INCOME TO COVER ALL COSTS
"How concerned are you that your family`s income will not be enough to cover all your costs and expenses this year?"
Base: All adults
Total Own/Rent Home Paying Off Having House
Mortgage Difficulty Worth
Paying Off Less Than
Mortgage Mortgage
Own Rent
% % % % % %
CONCERNED (NET) 65 62 74 66 93 80
Very concerned 26 22 36 24 60 42
Somewhat concerned 39 39 38 41 34 38
Not very concerned 24 25 19 24 6 12
Not at all concerned 12 13 7 11 1 8
Note: All of the numbers listed here refer to people, which is greater than the number of homes involved.

TABLE 5
CONCERNED ABOUT NOT HAVING ENOUGH INCOME - BY HOUSEHOLD INCOME
"How concerned are you that your family`s income will not be enough to cover all your costs and expenses this year?"
Base: All adults
Total Household Income
$34,999 $35,000 $50,000 $75,000
or Less To To +
$49,999 $74,999
% % % % %
CONCERNED (NET) 65 81 71 65 52
Very concerned 26 40 35 23 16
Somewhat concerned 39 40 36 42 36
Not very concerned 24 15 20 24 31
Not at all concerned 12 5 8 11 17
Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.
Note: All of the numbers listed here refer to people, which is greater than the number of homes involved.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between March 1
and 8, 2010 among 2,320 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex,
race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where
necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the
population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents`
propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are
subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to
quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated
with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options,
and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids
the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated
are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure,
unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical
because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to
participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to
reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on
those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of
theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council
on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or
promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

J37772
Q730, 740, 742, 744

The Harris Poll®#50, April 6, 2010
By Humphrey Taylor, Chairman, The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world`s leading custom market research firms,
leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant
insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for
pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide
range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy,
telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant,
and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and
territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a
network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering
research solutions that help us - and our clients - stay ahead of what`s next.
For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

©2010 Harris Interactive

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Harris Interactive
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