If you own your home and are glad you do, or if you are renting but wish you could own your own home, you are definitely in the majority of American voters.

The National Association of Home Builders released a poll this week (with research conducted by Lake Research Partners of Washington, DC, and Public Opionion Strategies of Alexandria, VA, during the first week of May) showing that nearly three quarters of American voters “believe that it is reasonable and appropriate for the federal government to provide tax incentives to promote homeownership, a sentiment that cuts across partisan and regional lines across the country.”

Lake Research president, Celinda Lake, states: “Despite the current housing downturn, Americans still see homeownership as a core value and a key building block of being in the middle class and creating strong jobs in their communities.”  The survey shows that—even among renters and people who currently owe more than their home is worth—more than two-thirds strongly agree that owning a home is the best long-term investment they can make and is worth the risk of ups and downs in the housing market.  This is an amazing find from those who may be expected to be somewhat down on home ownership!  And the percentage of those who agree rises to over 80% among those who fully own their homes. These numbers also hold across all age groups, from 18 to 65+.

Of core values, “Owning your own home,” is rated among the top of the list.  Values held even more strongly are: “Staying out of debt or getting out of debt,” and “Saving enough for retirement.” However, “Owning your own home” rated almost equally with “Being successful at your job.”

And what is the best investment you can make?  Thirty-six percent of those who responded said that “A home” is the best investment. This was followed by 33% who voted for a tax-sheltered retirement savings program. These were followed by savings accounts at 12% and investment in the stock market at 8%.

A full 95% of the homeowners responding said that they were “Very Happy” with their decision to own a home.

If you would like to see the full report on this poll follow this link: http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?newsID=12842 .

We at Westside hope that you are among the 95% who are happy that you own a home.  Your home is the best investment you can make—and it pays to take care of that investment.