Divided views on homeownership benefits

About 49 percent of homeowners said they believe their home is a great long-term investment, according to a survey conducted for online real estate company Trulia.

And most survey participants don't plan to move in the next year. The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, found that 92 percent of homeowner respondents and 70 percent of non-homeowners plan to stay at their current residences for at least the next 12 months.

The survey, conducted from Sept. 19-23, gathered responses from about 2,507 adults -- 1,549 respondents were homeowners and 958 were not.

About 55 percent of men who are homeowners said they believe their home is a great long-term investment, compared with 43 percent of women, and about half of non-homeowners said they believe homeownership is central to achieving their own personal "American Dream."

Among non-homeowners with an annual household income of $50,000 to $75,000, about 78 percent of respondents said that a home was central to achieving their "American Dream," compared with 51 percent of those with an annual household income below $49,000 and 53 percent of those with household income above $75,000.

Seventy-seven percent of responding homeowners said they haven't taken equity from their homes in the past 24 months, and 4 percent of non-homeowners said that anticipation of the "new Housing Recovery Act" effects was delaying their homeownership.

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