Survey on Housing Perceptions & Experiences

How do consumers, particularly consumers of color, feel about their ability to navigate the homebuying process and live the American Dream? And what are the experiences of consumers of color when it's time to access resources and get help like down payment assistance? Read NeighborWorks America's press release about consumer housing perceptions and experiences.

Findings: Negative experiences throughout the homebuying process have had a disproportionate impact on the ability of certain groups to buy a home when they want.

• More than half of non-white homeowners (52%), including 56% of Black homeowners who have had negative interactions with someone throughout the homebuying process, say this caused them to delay buying a home.
  • While white (23%) and non-white (22%) adults who have bought a home in the past are equally likely to report negative experiences with someone involved in the homebuying process, non-white adults are significantly more likely (52% vs. 42%) to have delayed buying a home because of these experiences.
  • Even though non-white adults who haven't bought a home are more likely than white adults to have strongly considered doing so, while adults are still able to become homeowners at higher rates than non-white adults.

 

• Younger and lower-income homeowners have also run into negative experiences with people involved in the homebuying process which have delayed the purchase of a home.
  • Younger (18-34: 52%) and lower-income (<50k: 53%) homeowners are more likely to have had negative experiences with people involved in the homebuying process cause them to delay buying a home compared to older and higher-income homeowners.

 

• Americans who aren’t going to consider buying a home soon point to myriad issues that are keeping them from searching for a home.
  • One-third of adults who aren’t considering purchasing a home soon say the cost of renting is too high to save up money (31%), that they don’t have enough money for a down payment (32%) and that homes where they live are too expensive (32%), the most frequently selected options among the tested reasons.

Findings: With so many barriers to homeownership, many Americans are open to moving farther away, or moving in with roommates or family members if it makes homeownership more affordable.

• Americans’ appetite to make life changes in order to order to afford a home varies significantly based on factors like age and race/ethnicity.
  • Adults ages 18-34 who aren’t past or current homeowners are significantly more likely than those ages 65+ to consider living with friends/roommates (40% vs. 12%) or extended family members/adult children (38% vs. 25%) to be able to buy a home.
  • More than half of adults ages 18-34 (55%) and 35-44 (51%) who aren’t current or past homeowners say they would consider finding additional employment to help them purchase a home.
  • Non-white adults are significantly more likely than white adults to consider renting part of their home for supplemental income (34% vs. 26%), purchasing a more affordable home farther away from where they want to live (49% vs. 41%), or finding additional employment (53% vs. 40%) to make homeownership a reality.

 

• In addition to increased inventory and more affordable homes, Americans are eager for more involvement from organizations involved in the homebuying process, and more access to necessary resources.
  • More than half of adults indicate that they would find increased outreach from organizations that offer housing counseling and financial capability resources (55%), and banks or mortgage lenders (55%) helpful.

Findings: Americans still aren’t fully taking advantage of services and programs to help achieve homeownership, with large divides in awareness and access based on income.

• Less than half of adults are familiar with services designed to help secure a mortgage (45%), assist with a down payment on a home (40%), or improve one’s financial capability/management (42%). •
  • Across each tested option, lower-income Americans are less familiar with different services designed to assist with the homebuying process, from financial capability/management to down payment and mortgage services.

 

• Lack of familiarity with these services may be tied to poor access to them as well.
  • Lower-income Americans are also significantly less likely than middle-or higher-income adults to describe their access to the following services as “excellent,” and more likely to describe their access as “poor:”
    • Services to help find a home.
    • Services to help with down payment assistance.
    • Services to help secure a mortgage.
    • Services to help increase/improve one’s credit score

Additional Findings

• 49% of American Indians were unfamiliar with services that could help them secure a mortgage.
• Consumers are 59% likely to use banks to assist in the homebuying process.
• Nonprofits are among the least likely organizations to be used by consumers across all racial/ethnic demographics for help in the homebuying process.
• Across key demographics, positive experiences among people in one's community and social networks are two of the most important factors in deciding which organizations to trust throughout the homebuying process.
• Three quarters (74%) of Black adults would be interested in services that help them create a budget and save towards their financial goals.
• 50% of Black adults and 42% of American Indians would be very interested in services that help them improve their credit score.
• Nearly half of current homeowners stated that they wish they had known where to find down payment assistance before buying a home.
• 61% of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and 56% of American Indians who currently are not likely to consider buying a home in the near future would find increased outreach from banks or mortgage lenders helpful in being able to buy a home in the near future.
  • Majorities of adults in these same groups (AAPI: 60% and American Indians 61%) would also find increased outreach from organizations that offer housing counseling and financial capability resources helpful in helping them to buy a home in the near future.
• Two-thirds or more American Indians (66%) and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (70%) who currently are not likely to buy a home in the near future say different types of home loan/mortgage options to suit their needs would be helpful in helping them to buy a home in the near future.
• Down payment assistance remains one of the more helpful options tested for people of color to buy homes in the near future.

Methodology
This poll was conducted between May 14-26, 2024 among a sample of 5,204 adults. The weighting scheme used involved a two-stage weighting system. Oversamples of Black, Hispanic, Asian and American Indians were initially weighted to their respective population proportions on age, gender and education. Then those first-stage weights were filtered into the general population weights and the whole adult sample was weighted on age, gender, race, ethnicity, education and region to match national proportions for the U.S. The interviews were conducted online. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage points.