Survey: Government aid not answer to foreclosure crisis

Percentage who say they should: 25

Market conditions

Percentage of Americans who say that they expect home prices in their area to either stay about the same in the next year or drop a little, according to a survey conducted by Reuters/Zogby: 66.5

Percentage who say they expect home prices to drop a lot: 8.5

Percentage who say they expect home prices to increase a lot: 4.2

Home-improvement teamwork

Percentage of men who believe that working on home improvement projects with another family member strengthens the relationship, according to the Dremel Do-It-Yourself Index Survey: 44

Percentage of women who feel the same way: 31

Critical office space

Percentage of workers who say they have either accepted or left a job due to the condition of the building and/or the amenities offered, according to a national survey by Blumberg Capital Partners: 33

Percentage of workers who described their office buildings and office environments as either “bland,” “dumpy” or “stodgy”: 47

Ranks of covered parking, subsidized cafeteria or restaurant, fitness or workout center, and on-site day care on the list of the most important office building amenities: 1, 2, 3, 4

U.S. migration patterns

Ranks of North Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee on the list of top Southern destinations for migrating Americans, according to United Van Lines’ 31st annual “migration” study: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Wyoming and Arizona on the list of top Western destinations for migrating Americans: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Rank of Michigan as the top outbound state: 1

High-cost living

Rank of Beverly Hills, Calif., among the most-expensive real estate markets in the United States, according to a survey of 400 cities conducted by Coldwell Banker: 1

Average price of a single-family house in Beverly Hills with four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, 2,200 square feet of space and a two-car garage: $2.2 million

Apartment amenities

Ranks of air conditioning (81 percent), parking (81 percent), washer and dryer in unit (54 percent), high-speed Internet in unit (47 percent) and dishwasher (46 percent) as the most important amenities looked for by renters in their apartment search, according to a survey by apartments.com: 1 (tie), 3, 4, 5

Percentage of renters who say air conditioning is the one amenity they cannot live without: 36

Housing tuition

Amount of money that was borrowed annually 2001–2006 through home-equity lines of credit to pay for college educations, according to research by Northlich: $9.4 billion

Number of college-bound students who will be affected by the slumping housing market and the subsequent inability of their parents to borrow through this avenue: 11.2 million

Homeowners insurance

Percentage of U.S. heads of household who own a home and have homeowners insurance, but who incorrectly believe that flood damages would be covered by a standard homeowners or property and liability policy, according to a National Association of Insurance Commissioners survey: 33

Percentage who think that vehicles such as cars, boats and motorcycles stolen from or damaged on their property are covered by standard homeowners insurance policies: 68

A population boom

If current trends continue, projected population of the United States in 2050, according to new projections developed by the Pew Research Center: 438 million

Population in 2005: 296 million

Percentage of the increase that will be due to immigrants arriving from 2005 to 2050 and their U.S.-born descendants: 82

U.S. population on Jan. 1, 2008, according to a study conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau: 303,146,284

Number of seconds between each new birth: 8

Number of seconds between each death: 11

Number of seconds between each new migrant: 30

Idle Thought

“A politician is a man who thinks of the next election, while the statesman thinks of the next generation.”

—James Freeman Clarke, preacher and author

John MacIntyre is an author and former city magazine editor. His Figuratively Speaking column, launched in 1989, is published in more than 40 newspapers and magazines.