Some 10 percent of likely registered voters say they are underwater on their mortgage, deeply dislike loan giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and want the federal government out of the home loan business, according to a new poll on voter attitudes about housing and the American Dream.
The hatred of Fannie Mae (51 percent unfavorable-22 percent favorable) and Freddie Mac (50 percent unfavorable-17 percent favorable) is made worse by the fact that they have a 91 percent name recognition, three times that of Speaker John Boehner or Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said pollster Dave Sackett of the Tarrance Group.
“Fannie Mae has a higher name identification than Joe Biden,” he said. The reason: Both Fannie and Freddie are well known villains in the mortgage crisis that led to millions of foreclosures. “They are the Kim and Khloe Kardashian of the debate,” said Sackett.
Voter attitude about the Obama administration’s involvement in housing is just as bad. Sackett, in a poll for the Woodrow Wilson Center which hosted a housing conference Tuesday, found that 49 percent favor the federal government “removing itself” from mortgage finance. But, he said, if voters are also told that the result could be the death of the 30-year mortgage 62 percent would oppose the federal government from bowing out of the mortgage business.
Sackett did find some good news among voters, with 75 percent saying they hope to own a home one day. The major hangup to actually buying, though: low wages and worries about the costs of buying and owning a house.
