survey[A survey [WSJ]](http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB112795239565355293,00.html) by Royal Bank of Canada’s RBC Capital Markets unit of 1001 consumers found that most owners think their homes will continue to appreciate and the housing boom has not affected their spending patterns.

The results of this survey seems to indicate that consumer perceptions of their spending habits contradicts the Fed’s pronouncement that the consumer is driving the economy through extracting equity from their homes.

>The sample was spread across geography, gender
> and income brackets, to make it representative
>of the general U.S. population. The survey’s
>margin of error was plus or minus 3%.

* Only 10% of homeowners polled said they believe that rising real-estate values had affected their spending.

* 85% of homeowners surveyed said they had experienced real-estate gains in the past three years

* 70% saw gains of more than 10% in the past three years

* 50% had extracted funds through home equity loans

* 60% expect home values to rise at least 5% annualy for the next 3 years.

* 3% expect home values to fall over the next 3 years.

* 60% said rising energy costs were causing them to reign in spending.


3 Comments

  1. techy lname September 29, 2005 at 8:39 pm

    So only 10% said their spending had increased with the value of real estate, but 50% had taken out loans against their equity. Is there a contradiction here?

  2. John Philip Mason October 2, 2005 at 2:28 pm

    Boy did Techy Iname hit the nail on the head!

  3. The Big Picture October 3, 2005 at 5:45 am

    Polling Homeowners (they do not have a clue)

    Jonathan Miller’s blog Matrix (Interpreting the Real Estate Economy) has an interesting post (Consumer Reality Distortion, Or Is It?) outlining a recent WSJ poll on US Homeowners’ perspectives and attitudes. In particular, Miller noted that: Only 10…

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