1 in 3 Americans Worry They'll Be Priced Out of Their Homes Within a Year

Home might be where the heart is, but for a growing number of Americans, it's also where the worry is. A new survey finds that fully a third of Americans say they'll be priced out of their current residences within a year.

In a new poll of roughly 1,000 Americans by renters advocacy group Make Room and Ipsos Public Affairs, 32% of respondents said they were worried that the cost of housing would force them to move within the next 12 months.

Make Room said about 25% of families who rent their homes wind up paying at least half of what they earn on rent and utilities, and that burden is already weighing on a substantial number: Nearly one in four — 23% — of survey respondents said they needed to move at least once in the past five years because the cost of the rent or mortgage where they were living became too much to afford.

About one in five said that just within the past year, they'd either missed a mortgage or rent payment or had to pare back the rest of their budget in order to pay for their housing. Of those, 57% said they cut back on buying groceries, and 24% said they skipped visiting the doctor or buying medicine.

Even though the beginnings of the real estate crash and foreclosure crisis are nearly a decade in the rearview mirror now, Make Room said these poll results show a continued need for policymakers and municipalities to make affordable housing a priority.