A significant majority of today’s homeowners and renters agree owning a home is a smart long-term decision. According to a survey released by the National Association of REALTORS®, 95 percent of owners and 72 percent of renters believe over several years it makes more sense to own a home.

The American Attitudes about Homeownership survey reported a majority of home owners and a strong percentage of renters “agree” or “strongly agree” that owning a home provides a healthy and stable environment for raising a family and that it helps them meet long-term financial goals. In addition, 93 percent of owners surveyed would purchase a home again.

The survey also confirmed that homeowners and renters continue to have concerns about the economy. Among renters who are “very” or “extremely” likely to buy a home in the future, three out of five consider confidence in job security or creditworthiness to be an obstacle.

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. and fielded October 6-20, 2010. A total of 3,793 adults, 18 and older were surveyed, including 1,880 home owners, 1,115 renters, and 798 young adults. All samples came from the Harris Poll online database and were weighted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income to be representative of the U.S. general population of adults 18 and older. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.