Owning a Home—Still an American Dream

The idea that home prices have “no where to go but up” is a fairy tale that no one tells their children at bedtime any more—but owning a home is a still a priority for Americans according to a recent survey.

According to an Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll, we (Americans) want to raise a family (this ranked No. 1), and own a home (No. 2)—and this is how we define the American Dream.

With all the upside-down homeowners in the nation today, it’s heartening to learn that this survey indicates that most people, 80 percent, believe that owning a home is still a better financial decision than renting. In fact, 90 percent of homeowners say they would buy their home again.

Nationwide, statistics and polls are less meaningful to me than news about our own Danville and Alamo—so I examined the rental market in our area compared with owner-occupied residences. 

In Alamo, 16 percent of the homes are rentals; in Danville, 19 percent. Compare this with Antioch. I don’t mean to pick on Antioch, but it’s a town that suffered the last few years in this market quite differently than we did. Thirty-two percent of the homes in Antioch are occupied by renters.

An article called “Why Some Americans Will Always Buy,” by Julia Edwards and Edmund L. Andrews in National Journal, March 23, says the number one reason that people want to buy a home is to have a place to raise a family.

The American dream is still going strong in Alamo and Danville.  

Like Dorothy said, "There's no place like home."