August 5, 2011 (Jeff Alan)

The Rasmussen Consumer Index fell to another new low in 2011 of 61.2, the lowest level since March of 2009.The Index is down eight points from a month ago and down 18 points from three months ago.

Only 13 percent of those polled now believe the economy is getting better, down from 21 percent in July, while 64 percent believe it’s getting worse, which is up from 58 percent in July.

At the beginning of the year, 30 percent said they thought the economy was getting better, while 45 percent said they believe the economy was getting worse.

Rasmussen’s Consumer Index uses a baseline of 100.0 established in October 2001. Readings above 100.0 indicate that confidence is higher than the baseline month.

American’s opinions about the value of homeownership also diminished greatly in just a month’s time as 43 percent of American adults believe that buying a home is the best investment a family can make, that’s down from 47 percent in June and a new record low in home-buying confidence.

The number of Americans who felt that purchasing a home was not a good investment choice dropped from 32 percent in June to 26 percent in July with more Americans, 31 percent, not sure if purchasing a home was a good investment, up from 22 percent in June.

When it came to selling a home, only 13 percent of all adults said it was a good time to sell a home, which was up from 11 percent in June. Seventy-two percent of the adults said it was not a good time to sell a home and 16 percent were not sure.

Tags: Rasmussen Reports, polls, surveys, consumer confidence, personal finances, economy, purchasing a home

Source:
Rasmussen Reports