The impact of the widely publicized mortgage meltdown appears to have caused little change in borrower behavior during the past two years, according to a new Zillow Mortgage Marketplace survey.

The report found borrowers are spending no more time researching a home loan today than they did in 2008, and those who obtained a loan in the past five years are soliciting fewer quotes – an average of three quotes, versus four in 2008.

Borrowers who obtained a home loan in the past five years typically spent just five hours researching their options, which is unchanged from March 2008. Nearly one-third (31 percent) spent two hours or less. This is on par with the typical time spent researching a vacation or computer purchase, and half the time consumers typically allocate to research a car purchase, even though these items cost just a small fraction of the average cost of a home, according to the report.

"The last few years should have driven home the lesson that understanding one’s home loan is critically important, but mortgages continue to be something that most people don’t want to spend time thinking about," said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries. "Not understanding a home loan can have catastrophic consequences. Starting from our first survey two years ago, I’ve been surprised that people spend more time shopping for cars and televisions than they do researching mortgages. I’m further surprised that they spend no more time shopping for mortgages now than they did two years ago, even in the midst of an unprecedented foreclosure crisis. People spend countless hours shopping for the perfect home, yet few realize that small differences in the interest rate or discount points can add tens of thousands of dollars to the overall cost of the home."

In the past five years, 16 percent of adults report they have obtained or refinanced a home loan and two-thirds (65 percent) of those admit they want to do things differently when shopping for their next home loan.