A new national survey gauging attitudes toward housing finds that 65 percent of Americans surveyed still prefer owning a home, despite the challenging economic environment and the housing downturn. The Fannie Mae National Housing Survey revealed that homeowners and renters alike are taking a more cautious approach to homeownership. Some 23 percent of renters polled say they will buy a home later than once planned.

In addition, Americans with traditional, fixed-rate mortgages with predictable payments are significantly more satisfied than those with other types of mortgages.
 
Other findings:
· 88 percent of respondents believe that walking away from an underwater mortgage is not acceptable, but those who know someone who has defaulted are more than twice as likely to have seriously considered stopping payments on their mortgage.
· Eight in ten respondents consider homeownership important to the economy. However, only 31 percent think that the economy is on the right track, but 44 percent expect their personal financial situation to improve in the next year.
· Delinquent borrowers are even more optimistic about the future, with 63 percent expecting they will be in a stronger financial position in the next year.
· 64 percent of those surveyed think it is a good time to buy a house, and nearly one in three (31 percent) think now is a very good time to buy a house. This is nearly as many who said it was a good time to buy in 2003 (66 percent), well before home prices peaked.
· Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) think housing prices will go up or stay the same over the next year, including 37 percent who think prices will increase and 36 percent who feel prices will remain about the same.
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