As you are aware, the race for our new president is in progress and has been a heated and steady battle. It is a very close race and will most likely go down to the wire, BUT have you taken into consideration the candidates plans for the housing market? Although it has not been addressed a lot publicly by either side, the plans for our housing market are crucial to the success of our economy and vice versa. We need to spark our economy in order to spark the housing market and we also need the housing market to thrive in order for the economy to be consistant and reliable. The strength of our economy and the housing market are both issues that need serious attention. Therefore, let us get to the topic at hand; Mitt Romney and his campaign team released a 6 page Housing Policy white paper that addresses all the areas Romney plans to work on if elected; they are as follows:
- reduce the outsized role of the government and revitalize the private sector's role
- protect taxpayers from additional risk in the future by reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
- provide a long-term sustainable solution for the future of housing finance reform in our country
- get the federal government out of the landlord business by responsibly selling 200,000+ vacant foreclosed homes in a way that will enhance communities
- make it easier for home owners to get alternatives to foreclosure such as short sales, deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure, and shared appreciation
- replace the Dodd-Frank act with sensible regulation by ushering in a new era of responsible lending to allow banks to approve loans to families with good credit rather than rejecting their mortgage applications
- plans to create 12 million jobs within the next four years {The best way to help the housing market is to get the economy going and get America back to work}
In the paper, Romney-Ryan go on to address the current housing market condition and how exactly we got into this predicament. It states statistics such as the $13,000 average drop in home prices nationwide in result of the collapse. Also, it touches upon the fact that we need to get the economy back on track by opening up jobs for the 23 million Americans currently unemployed. The unemployment rate has been over 8% for a record 43 consecutive months while the average home income has dropped nearly $4,000.
Next, the letter addresses Obama's current policies and attempts to put the housing market into a recovery state, declaring that the Obama administration has actually made matters worse in terms of the home ownership dream. The paper states that the Obama administration has not given a clear image of the future of housing finance policy. Early in his term, the president stated, according to Washington Post Reporter Bob Woodward that "we will not roll out an aggressive housing plan," and it was not included in his 2009 stimulus. However, as we all know the president did come out with a housing plan which accomplished mainly widespread confusion and an abundance of government help programs. "These programs have been poorly administered with constantly changed terms and overstates goals that have never been met."
The Romney-Ryan plan seems to completely understand the importance of the housing market stating, "Housing is a vital part of the American economy and it
has played an instrumental role in leading the country out of past recessions. The
Romney-Ryan plan will reduce the outsized role of the government and revitalize
the private sector’s role in the housing market to end the housing crisis
and preserve the American Dream of homeownership."
You can read the full Housing Policy paper @ this website: http://www.scribd.com/doc/106597377/Housing-White-Paper?secret_password=f7ipmm91iidtw7pujo6
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