Ninety Percent of Americans Do Not Regret Buying Their Current Home

RISMEDIA, July 14, 2010—A new study released by Bankrate, Inc. and conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International shows that, even with home prices sliding and mortgage rates the lowest in decades, the vast majority of Americans do not regret buying their current home.

Among the findings:

-Ninety percent of homeowners say they don’t regret buying their home versus a mere 9% who said they do

-Among those who regret buying their homes, the most common reasons cited were because they cannot sell their home and move on along with those who say they regret their purchase since they can’t afford their monthly mortgage payments

-Only eight percent of Americans don’t know what type of mortgage loan they have, down from 26% who didn’t in a Bankrate poll commissioned two years ago

-Fixed-rate mortgages are rising in popularity with 79% of those polled saying they have a fixed-rate mortgage on their home

-Wealthier Americans most overwhelmingly favored fixed-rate mortgages with almost 90% of those polled who make over $75,000 saying their home was paid for with a fixed-rate mortgage.

“It’s surprising—and reassuring—to hear 90% of homeowners say they don’t regret the purchase of their current homes,” said Greg McBride, CFA, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com. “And all the nasty headlines in the past two years have really moved the needle in terms of mortgage awareness, with a significant drop in the percentage of borrowers who don’t know what type of mortgage they have.”

This national random-digit-dialed phone study of 1,001 adults 18 or older was conducted for Bankrate by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The sample was weighted by demographic factors including age, gender, race, education and census region to ensure reliable and accurate representation of adults in U.S. households. The overall margin of error for the survey is +/- 3.5 percentage points based on the total sample.

For more information, visit www.bankrate.com.