Will a new U.S. President improve the housing market?

Most home buyers think not. Less than half, only 44 percent, believe the housing market will improve once the U.S. has a new president, according to a Harris Interactive survey commissioned by Move, Inc., the operator of the Realtor.com Web site.

Women were more inclined than men to believe the housing market will improve after Inauguration Day.

However, most home buyers, 81 percent of them, remain nervous about their prospects in the current housing market.

That's because, buyers said, they are concerned about barriers that exist between them and home ownership.

Among those barriers, the cost of a down payment, insufficient income, lack of confidence in the economy and still high home prices, were the most common sources of concern.

That doesn't mean consumers have given up on home ownership.

More than half of renters who plan to buy a home someday will do so in the next five years. Among current home owners, 41 percent plan to buy again, the study said.

And they'll sacrifice to put their own roof over their head.

Nearly 80 percent of consumers surveyed would be willing to save more, earn extra income, compromise on neighborhood features and skip some home amenities in order to buy a home right now.

Still consumers, 84 percent of them, find some aspect of home buying intimidating. Afraid of getting stuck with the wrong home and the process of taking out a mortgage were among the most intimidating aspects, the survey said.

The study was conducted online between May 21 and 23, 2008 among 2,462 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, of whom 1,377 plan to buy a home in the current real estate market.