Nearly 8 in 10 Americans Support FHA Modernization

RISMEDIA, June 18, 2007-As Congress debates The Expanding American Homeownership Act, a new national? poll of 1,000 Americans shows overwhelming, 80%, support for the reforms in the bill; just 12% oppose the bill. The survey results were released in conjunction with the ‘Safeguarding the American Dream’ symposium, held today in Washington, DC. The national telephone poll of 1,000 adults was commissioned by Wells Fargo and conducted by The Mellman Group of Washington, DC. The margin of error for this survey is +/- 3.1 percentage points.

Key findings from this survey include:

Most Americans Are Unaware of the Expanding American Homeownership Act

Without any explanation of the Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007, more Americans (26%) favor the legislation than oppose it (9%), while 13% are undecided. However, a majority (52%) are unaware of the Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007.

After Hearing a Brief Description, Four In Five Americans Favor the Expanding American Homeownership Act

Four in five Americans (80%) favor changing “the rules to make it easier for the FHA to make mortgage loans available to first time homeowners and people with moderate incomes.” Fifty-five percent (55%) feel this way strongly, while just 12% express any level of opposition and 8% are undecided.

African Americans Are Both More Aware and More Supportive of the Act Than Other Groups

Only 35% of African Americans are unaware of the Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007, compared to majorities of whites (55%) and Hispanics (51%). Without any explanation, four-in-ten African Americans (43%) favor the legislation — a much larger proportion compared to whites (23%) and Hispanics (30%). These elevated levels of support are maintained after respondents heard a brief description; 88% of African Americans favor the Expanding American Homeownership compared again to 78% of whites and 81% of Hispanics.

The survey was conducted by The Mellman Group of Washington, DC. A national sample of 1000 adult Americans were interviewed by telephone from June 8 through June 11, 2007. Respondents were selected using random digit dialing to ensure an unbiased sample. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence. For subgroups of the population, the margin of error is higher.