Fewer Americans claim they are having trouble paying their monthly mortgage, an improvement of seven percentage points over 2010, according to a Harris Poll taken in March.
But, Harris points out one reason for the improvement: some of those formerly having problems have lost their homes and no longer fall into the problem category because they don't have a mortgage.
Roughly, 22% of the 3,171 respondents said they are having difficulty paying their home loan. Of that group, 7% said they are having a "great deal" of difficulty, while 18% are having "some difficulty," Harris reported.
One year ago, 29% of mortgagors said they had some difficulty, with 11% having a great deal of difficulty. The poll was taken online between March 7 and March 14.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they currently have a mortgage, down from almost 70% from a year ago.
Of those with a loan, the number of people who believe their house is worth more than the mortgage increased to 57% in the most recent survey, an increase of two percentage points. Another 15% said their property value remained at about the same, a drop of three percentage points.
Roughly 21% claimed to be underwater, a drop too of three percentage points. About 7% of those surveyed refused to answer the question.
