About one in five Americans in the lower 48 states have an adjustable-rate mortgage, and 36 percent say they are concerned that they will not be able to make their monthly payments if their interest rate resets, according to an Associated Press-AOL Real Estate poll.
The poll of 2,001 adults from all states except Alaska and Hawaii included 289 people who bought a home in the last two years and 401 who said they were likely to buy a home within the next two years.
Of those who were planning to buy a house or apartment in the next two years, 35 percent said they would seek an adjustable-rate mortgage.
The results of the AP-AOL poll, which was conducted at the end of September, contrasted in some respects with a survey conducted in August for Wells Fargo.
The Wells Fargo poll found 14 percent of homeowners held adjustable-rate mortgages, compared with 22 percent of those polled by AP-AOL. In the Wells Fargo poll, 79 percent said they were concerned about the possibility of their interest rates increasing.
A Wall Street Journal Online poll conducted in August found 38 percent of mortgage holders had a “creative” loan, defined as defined as interest-only, piggyback, payment-option or “miss-a-payment” plans.
