Homeownership Declines in Popularity as Safe Investment

The mood of homeowners has not improved much since the beginning of the year. In fact, it's gotten a little darker. Respondents to a new survey conducted by Fannie Mae shows that 67 percent of respondents consider owning a home a safe investment.

That's a decline of 3 percentage points from the beginning of 2010, when 70 percent felt good about owning a home. In 2003, 83 percent of respondents said that they felt that putting money into a house was a good investment.

"Homeowners and renters alike continue to be wary of taking on risk, and they are less confident in the long-term outlook for housing," said Doug Duncan, VP and chief economist for Fannie Mae.