Voter Poll Evenly Split on Trump Versus Clinton as Better President for U.S. Housing Market

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NAHB Survey Reports Housing Remains a Priority for Most U.S. Voters

As the U.S. political season goes into high-gear this month as both the RNC and DNC conventions are concluded, a new poll commissioned by the National Association of Home Builders to gauge public sentiment on the value of homeownership and government programs that encourage homeownership and housing production, an overwhelming four-out-of-five Americans believe that owning a home is a good investment.
 
In addition, the survey was evenly split on which presidential candidate would be best for housing. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents cited Hillary Clinton, 37 percent Donald Trump and 25 percent reported "don't know" or "no opinion."
 
"The survey shows that most Americans believe that owning a home remains an integral part of the American Dream and that policymakers need to take active steps to encourage and protect homeownership," said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady.

Among those polled, 55 percent said the biggest obstacle to buying a home was finding a home at a price you can afford, followed by 50 percent who cited insufficient savings for a down payment and 41 percent who reported difficulty getting approved for a home loan.

Among the key findings:

• 82 percent rate "a home for you to live in" a good or excellent investment (the highest of six choices), far ahead of the second option, retirement accounts, at 67 percent.

• 81 percent of 18-29-year-olds want to buy a home.

• 72 percent support the government providing tax incentives to encourage homeownership.

• 46 percent say now is a good time to buy a home, twice the 23 percent who say it is not.

• 36 percent would like to buy a home in the next three years.

The NAHB nationwide survey consisted of more than 2,800 registered voters and was conducted July 22-24, 2016 by the polling firm Morning Consult.