Bailout for Defaulted Homeowners? Not so Fast, says Survey

Americans are weighing in with opinions on bailouts and mortgages. Will Congress and the Obama Administration listen?

Here is the story:

Majority Opposes Using Bailout Funds to Help Defaulting Homeowners

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As a new Congress and the incoming Obama Administration prepare to tackle record numbers of foreclosures that have depressed real estate values, a new national survey released today by the Reecon Advisory Report found that a majority of Americans, 51 percent, opposes using Federal bailout funds to help pay the mortgages of homeowners who are in default. Forty-three percent of those surveyed favor helping homeowners in trouble.

The survey found that opposition to using bailout money to help defaulters is greatest among men (58.3 percent), elderly (56.2 percent) and those living in the Northeast (56.1 percent). Support for helping defaulting homeowners is greatest among young people age 18 to 24 (69.1 percent) and those earning less than $20,000 a year (60.1 percent).

"These findings indicate that there are significant political barriers to proposals now being drafted in Congress to use some of the remaining $700 billion of bailout funds to help stem foreclosures by helping defaulting homeowners with their mortgages," said David Lereah, president of Reecon Advisors Inc., an independent real estate economics and information company.

"As a new Federal foreclosure policy unfolds in the months to come, public opinion will certainly play a central role. It's clear that people have strong opinions and a candid and vigorous debate will improve the chances for a successful outcome. The outcome could shape the real estate markets for many years to come," added Lereah.

The survey also found that consumer confidence in real estate is significantly higher than the stock market, despite the depression in property values. By a margin of 53.7 percent to 30.8 percent, those surveyed think real estate is a better long-term investment than the stock market, considering the current economic situation. Confidence in real estate is highest in the South (58.6 percent) and West (58.4 percent), and among young people 18 to 24 (63.8 percent). The stock market ranks highest with those age 35-49 (34.7 percent).

However, public opinion on whether the stock market or real estate will recover first is much more evenly split and falls within the survey's margin of error. Forty-six percent predict the stock market will recover first; 43.2 percent believe real estate will be first. Real estate ranked highest with young people 18 to 24 (57.3 percent) and Southerners (50.6 percent).

The telephone survey, by GFK Custom Research North America, was conducted December 19-21, 2008. A total of 1,004 interviews were completed, 524 with female adults and 480 with male adults. The margin of error on weighted data is +3 percentage points for the full sample. All completed interviews are weighted to ensure accurate and reliable representation of the total population, 18 years and older.

The poll is the first in a series of opinion surveys on issues critical to real estate markets to be conducted by Reecon Advisors, Inc. for the Reecon Advisory Report, a weekly newsletter being launched today, to provide insight, analysis and intelligence on residential real estate.

All Political Parties Side with Israel in Israeli/Palestinian Conflict after Viewing Video

/PRNewswire/ -- A new national study conducted among 309 self-reported Democrats, Republicans and Independents revealed that after watching a video news clip, all political parties significantly increased their support for Israel while holding Palestine responsible for the on-going attacks.

The study was conducted by HCD Research on December 29 to obtain Americans' perceptions of a video news clip which contained the Israeli/Palestinian perspectives on the situation and their justifications for the attacks. To view believability curves and detailed results go to: www.mediacurves.com.

Prior to viewing the video clip, respondents, and in particular, Democrats were split on who is most responsible for the recent attacks in Israel and Palestine. Before watching the video, 12% blamed Israel and 33% blamed Palestine. After watching the video, 11% blamed Israel, over half (53%) blamed Palestine; an increase of 20% of those siding with Israel.

When asked if the U.S. should intervene in this situation, the majority (64%) reported no, compared to 13% indicated yes, and 24% who reported they weren't sure.

Among the findings:

"Who do you think is mostly responsible for the Israeli/Palestinian attacks that started this past week?"

BEFORE watching the video

Total Democrats Republicans Independents
Israel 12% 19% 7% 11%
Palestine 33% 20% 49% 31%
Both 51% 59% 40% 54%
Neither 4% 3% 4% 4%


AFTER watching the video

Total Democrats Republicans Independents
Israel 11% 20% 5% 10%
Palestine 53% 46% 63% 50%
Both 34% 33% 30% 39%
Neither 2% 1% 2% 2%

"Do you think that the US should intervene in this situation?"

BEFORE watching the video

Total Democrats Republicans Independents
Yes 12% 19% 10% 7%
No 63% 55% 57% 79%
Not sure 25% 26% 34% 15%

AFTER watching the video

Total Democrats Republicans Independents
Yes 13% 19% 13% 7%
No 64% 62% 56% 74%
Not sure 24% 20% 32% 19%


While viewing the video clip, participants indicated their levels of believability by moving their mouse from left to right on a continuum. The responses were recorded in quarter-second intervals and reported in the form of curves. The participants were also post-viewing questions.

The Media Curves web site provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans' perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.