Exclusive: most renters surveyed by Harris Poll say the areas they live in have become so unaffordable they are ‘barely livable’
The poll, conducted by the Harris Poll Thought Leadership and Future Practice, asked survey takers to identify themselves as renters or homeowners, along with other demographic information. Those polled were asked their opinion on home ownership in the United States. For many, especially renters, the outlook is bleak.
Though the vast majority of renters polled said they want to own a home in the future, 61% said they are worried they will never be able to. A similar percentage believe no matter how hard they work, they’ll never be able to afford a home.
“When you think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and housing is right at that foundational level of security, the implications on consumer psyche when things feel so unaffordable is something that will impact everyone,” said Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer at Harris Poll. The American dream of owning a home “is looking more like a daydream for renters”.
If it’s 600 per month (as I am assuming), and it was split evenly between taxes and insurance, that would mean an increase in taxes of 3600 and insurance by 3600. My insurance for the entire year isn’t even close to that. My taxes went up on my million dollar (thanks to a nearly 50% increaseduring the pandemic) by 5%, which is less than 40 dollars a month. So I find it hard to believe that it is just the taxes and the insurance.
As I said, I was assuming they meant per month, but I could be wrong and it’s only 600 for the year. But then if a 50$ increase per month in expenses pushed them the edge, they were never in a really comfortable territory to begin with.