Marylanders Still See Home Ownership as Sign They’ve ‘Made It’

Despite fallout from the mortgage crisis, home ownership is still seen as important.
By Nikki Gamer

 
At 22, Carrie Looney is already thinking ahead to purchasing a home to have as a legacy for the family she and her fiancée are planning. Like the majority of Americans in a recent national poll, she still sees home ownership as the pinnacle of the American dream.
According to The New York Times/CBS News poll released this week, nearly nine in 10 Americans believe home ownership is key to well-being and success in life despite the downturn in the economy and the housing market.
“We want kids, dogs. We definitely want to own and not rent,” said Looney, of Savage. “It will be something to pass on to the kids.”
Because of one of the worst declines in the housing market in decades, many Americans are wavering on their opinion of whether buying is financially advantageous, according to the poll.
But Rachel Berman, 32, a new mother and Columbia homeowner since 2008, remains committed to home ownership, and not just based on emotion.
“In the grand scheme of things, the benefits of renting don’t add up,” she said. “We tried very hard to stay within what we could afford and what we predicted we could afford.”
Owning property, in fact, seems to be at the core of the American identity.
“When you own a house I feel like you’ve made it,” said Erin Armstrong, 24, a native of Columbia.
A long-time realtor in the area agreed.
“I think people very much want to own homes,” said Lois Leahy of Columbia-based Keller Williams Realty Center. She’s been in the business 17 years. “I haven’t talked to anyone who has decided to rent because of what’s going on in the economy,” she said.
Leahy said that area buyers are looking at the mortgage crisis, with its accompanying lower interest rates and lower home prices, as an opportunity, while sellers are becoming more realistic about expectations due to the economic situation.
According to the national poll, nearly 25 percent of homeowners say their home is now worth less than what they owe on their mortgage.  Leahy added that it’s taken a long time for sellers to adjust their realities to the current market.
Statistically speaking, while the mortgage crisis has had an effect on housing in the area, Howard County has maintained relative stability. Single-family home prices and sales have dropped off only slightly.
In 2007, the price of a median single-family home was $435,000. To date in 2011, the median single-family home is priced at $390,000, a change of about 10 percent. Meanwhile home sales seem to be holding steady.
Leahy said she’s optimistic about the future of the Howard County housing market.
“I think our housing will continue to appreciate but it will be at a very slow and steady rate of appreciation,” Leahy said.
Bob Chew, a realtor with Ellicott City-based Long & Foster, was more cautious.
“I do think that we are on the right track,” Chew said. “But I think that we are subject to how the government handles the overall economy in terms of job creation. If the economy continues to falter then we could see a much longer time frame to get into a solid housing market.”
But Chew concurred that Howard County, which had an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent in May compared to the national average of 8.7 percent, has weathered the housing storm better than most.
Montgomery County is the only other county in the state with such low unemployment.
On the whole, the poll showed that more than half of Americans feel the country is going in the wrong direction economically.
“I think it’s going to get worse,” said Elkridge resident Opal Barnes. In the last five years, she said, she has had to face both family unemployment and foreclosure.
“The same thing that’s happening now will happen again,” Barnes said. “Who cares about the middle class anymore? I’m not motivated to buy another house. Once you miss that payment your life dissolves.”
Columbia resident Tricia Hayes, 49, said her views on home ownership have changed since the economy went southward. Hayes moved to Maryland from Indiana for a job and is now renting in Columbia.
She said she has had trouble selling her house in Indiana, which means she has had double the financial burden. She said she’s doubtful she will buy another home.
Overall, the poll showed, Americans are wary of the country’s economic future. Thirty-nine percent of those polled said they think the downturn is permanent.
Chew said he’s seen people’s ideas on the housing question do a turnaround since the beginning of the housing crisis.
“Before, people looked at it much more so as an investment, and a quick way to make money, rather than looking at housing for the long term,” Chew said.
He said the change is not necessarily bad.
“There is much more of an appropriate view now,” he said. “There is the joy of home ownership, and looking at is as a longer term investment.”
Click here to read The New York Times story on the poll. According to The Times, the poll was conducted by phone from June 24-28 with 979 adults. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.