Affordability Squeeze Depresses Home Sales

Prospective homebuyers are confronting what the National Association of Realtors (NAR) describes as “the most difficult affordability conditions in nearly 40 years.”

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Twice in the past six years, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has floated a plan to overhaul the Real Estate Settlement Practices Act (RESPA),  a statute that nearly everyone views as dysfunctional at best and counter-productive at worst, only to see the proposed reforms shot down by industry opposition. 

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Economists and politicians are still debating and recalculating the odds on whether the economy will stumble into a recession or avoid a serious downturn.

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No!  No way!  Absolutely not!  Never mind.  That pretty much summarizes the dramatic reversal in policy that led the Bush Administration to support a reduction in the capital requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, freeing the secondary market giants to play a larger role in efforts to contain the damage caused by the subprime mortgage crisis. 

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Financial industry lobbyists are becoming increasingly concerned about proposals pending in Congress that would amend the bankruptcy law to provide relief for subprime borrowers at risk of losing their homes.