22% Have Trouble Paying off their Mortgage

22% have difficulty paying off mortgage
NEW YORK – April 4, 2011 – A new Harris Poll finds that 22 percent of people with mortgages are having difficulty meeting their mortgage payments, including 7 percent who have “a great deal of difficulty.” Furthermore, 21 percent of those with mortgages think their homes are “underwater” – worth less than the amounts that they owe.

However the numbers are somewhat lower than a year ago. The percent of people who have difficulty paying off their mortgage has declined from 29 percent to 22 percent, and the percent having a great deal of difficulty is down from 11 percent to 7 percent. At this time in 2010, 24 percent of those with mortgages thought they were underwater – three points higher than today.

The Harris Poll interviewed 3,171 adults online between March 7 and 14, 2011.

Some main findings include:

• Two thirds (66 percent) of all adults have mortgages on their homes, slightly lower than last year’s 69 percent.

• While most homeowners with mortgages (73 percent) have little or no difficulty making their mortgage payments, the 22 percent who have difficulty represent about 32 million people. The 7 percent having a great deal of difficulty represents more than 11 million people.

• Those who believe their homes are worth less than the money they owe on their mortgages (21 percent of all those with mortgages) includes 8 percent who say their homes are worth “a lot less.” However these numbers are also somewhat lower than they were a year ago (24 percent and 11 percent).

• Most adults (62 percent), whether or not they are homeowners with mortgages, are at least somewhat concerned that their family’s income will not be enough to cover all their costs and expenses this year. This number is also slightly lower than it was last year (65 percent). Unsurprisingly, the higher the family income, the lower the level of concern. But among the lowest group with household incomes of less than $35,000, fully 75 percent are concerned and 36 percent are very concerned.

The findings are consistent with other Harris Poll economic data that show a very modest, but still painfully slow, recovery from the recession. Harris also notes that one reason numbers may have dropped is that some people in difficulty last year have since lost their homes and no longer have mortgages.

© 2011 Florida Realtors®

Related Topics: Economy, Research