First-time U.S. homebuyers likely to purchase: poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Buying a home has never been more affordable by some measures, and potential first-time U.S. buyers said they are likely to buy a home in the next two years, a survey released on Thursday found.
Record low mortgages rates and a new first-time homebuyer tax credit are large incentives, despite obstacles that include greater difficulty getting loans approved, according to the poll conducted for Century 21 Real Estate.
All of the 1,000 potential U.S. homebuyers surveyed in an online survey conducted March 2-7 by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, said they were likely to buy a house for the first time in the next two years.
More than three-quarters of those polled said this is a good time to buy a home, and almost 70 percent said now is a better time than six months ago.
"Most prospective first-time home buyers feel that housing prices will continue to fall throughout the next six months, but will begin rising within two years," the study said. "This explains why most are not in a hurry to buy immediately, but would like to do so within the next two years."
Nine of 10 people surveyed said they also were worried about the economy, and 42 percent were "very worried," with unemployment at a 25-year high and seen rising.
However, more than three-quarters of those polled said the $8,000 federal tax credit makes them more likely to buy a house in the next six months.
Eighty-five percent said current home prices are affordable, and 25 percent said they are very affordable.
Home loan rates hover near all-time lows, around 4-3/4 percent, and are headed toward 4-1/2 percent.
Prices have tumbled more than 26 percent since peaking nearly three years ago, based on Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller indexes.
"The first-time homebuyer is a group of folks that doesn't have to get rid of a home to make a purchase," and thus play a key role in the early stages of a housing upturn, Tom Kunz, chief executive of Century 21 Real Estate, said in an interview on Wednesday.
The survey shows "we have ready, able and willing buyers sitting on the fence," many of whom had been priced out of the market during the record sales and price spike earlier this decade. "There has never been a better buyer's market than right now."
INCENTIVES VS OBSTACLES
But three-quarters of the potential buyers also said they view it is harder to get a mortgage than over the last year.
And nearly 30 percent said they are less likely to buy now because of economic and financial concerns.

Having the money for a down payment and getting an affordable mortgage are among top concerns for potential buyers, the survey found.
More than half of potential first time buyers are seriously considering a property in distress. Foreclosures are at a record high.
Nearly all renters said they would probably buy if they could got a mortgage comparable to their current monthly payments.

3 out of 4 Americans optimistic about Obama's presidency: poll

A remarkably high level of optimism among . Americans about President Obama's leadership has provided him substantial political clout to counter the nation's economic challenges and opposition by nearly all the republicans in the Congress, a survey reveals.
According to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, more than three-quarters Americans polled said they were optimistic about the next four years with Obama as president, although they were patient about the economy, with most saying it would be years before significant improvement.
Just a month into Presidency, the high level of optimism enjoyed by Obama is similar to Ronald Reagan, who led the nation out of economic gloom. His of 63 percent job approval rating is about ten percent higher than both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The rating includes 88 percent of Democrats and 44 percent of Republicans.
However, the poll found that 69 percent of Americans would like the White House administration to reverse its Iraq policy. Apparently, Obama is continuing many practices of the Bush administration, including the barring of photographs of the coffins carrying soldiers killed in Iraq.
A majority of people in both parties accepted that Obama wanted to work in a bipartisan way, but Republicans had objected to the 787 billion dollar economic stimulus plan for political reasons. But 56 percent of those surveyed said Obama's priority, should be working on the policies he proposed during his, rather than working with Republicans.
The poll also captured skepticism about how effective his plans will prove to be in addressing the deep recession.
A majority of people said that Obama administration's bailout plans for financial institutions would benefit bankers, not all Americans. Even more respondents said the struggling automotive companies, which are seeking billions of dollars in additional loans from the government should not receive any more money.
"The government doesn't step up and help other industries, so why should they help the banks and the auto companies? It's not fair. Our taxpayer money is going to bail out all these corrupt people who are making millions." Margie Rowe, a Democrat from Ahoskie, N.C., said.
A total of 1,112 adults took part in the national telephone poll, which has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
The poll also found that the public was more focused on jobs than on other dimensions of the economy, like the home mortgage crisis.
A majority of Americans, 55 percent, say they are just making ends meet, with more than 6 in 10 concerned that someone in their household might lose his job in the next year, the poll revealed. (ANI)