Home purchase, improvements top consumer wish list

Fifty-one percent of Americans in a recent poll say that if their financial situation were to improve, they’d buy a home.

Coming in second on the list of wishes, they’d make repairs or improvements to the home they already have, according to the poll of more than 1,400 Americans conducted by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling website, www.DebtAdvice.org.

Meanwhile, 17 percent of Americans polled said they’d upgrade their car and 9 percent said they’d take a vacation.

“Home ownership has traditionally been a part of sound financial planning,” said Gail Cunningham, spokesperson for the NFCC, a nonprofit credit counseling organization. “With a combined total of 74 percent of respondents selecting a home-oriented option, the poll results strongly suggests that people continue to place value in owning a home, and are anxious to buy a house or improve their existing one.”