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Who will benefit from housing act?; How the legislation could ripple through America -- from banks.
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Is it a remedy for the worst housing slump the nation has suffered in decades? Or merely a taxpayer-funded bailout that will fail to reverse the plunge in home prices, the surge in foreclosures and the grave threat that overhangs the economy? The housing act, which won final approval in Congress on Saturday and which President Bush has said he will sign, is historic in its sweep and ambition. It aims to provide relief to homeowners, incentives to buyers, guidance to lenders and oversight to...
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Housing calamity forces Americans to save
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The U.S. housing crisis may accomplish what years of parental hectoring couldn't: Turn Americans from spenders into savers. Spending will fall because homeowners can no longer use rising real estate values to borrow cash -- $837.5 billion in 2006, according to a report by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and James Kennedy. With mortgage lenders requiring down payments of 20 percent, the average household, which puts away less than 1 percent of after-tax pay, will have to save 10...
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Break for taxpayers who don't itemize
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WASHINGTON - The giant federal housing and foreclosure relief legislation now heading for enactment contains a little-noticed - but potentially far-reaching - change in real estate tax policy.
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Home Sales Sink To New Low As Job Market Weakens; Stocks Sell Off On Reports; Growing inventory...
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Sales of existing homes fell more than expected in June to their lowest level in at least nine years, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday, as buyers showed little interest amid falling real estate prices and uncertainty about jobs and the economy.
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Housing Reform Bill To Bail Out Freddie, Fannie, Borrowers; President Drops Veto Threat; Law will...
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The House passed a sweeping housing reform bill on Wednesday, just hours after the White House said it was dropping any veto threat. Senate leaders have promised swift passage as well, meaning the bill could become law in just days. The bill passed 272-152 in the House, after leadership fast-tracked it to the floor. The bill is intended to rescue some 400,000 homeowners at risk of foreclosure in the current crisis, as well as restoring investor confidence in the government-sponsored...
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Helping Fannie, Freddie also aids 'the little guy'
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A question comes up these days as a common refrain: Why is the government so eager to bail out big institutions but not the proverbial little guy? The question was posed in March when the Federal Reserve put together a plan to help J.P. Morgan Chase buy Bear Stearns. And it is being asked again now as Congress takes up legislation that would backstop faltering home mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
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States battle foreclosure threat; Plans aiding homeowners with loans, mortgages
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Frustrated by the slow pace of federal relief, states around the country are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into their own programs to stem the rising tide of home foreclosures.
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Mortgage giants' bailout could cost taxpayers billions
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By Martin Crutsinger and Alan Zibel The Associated Press WASHINGTON Now that the federal government has thrown a lifeline to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers could be on the hook for billions more if the crisis of confidence spreads. There were encouraging signs Monday for the rescue plan but also signs of concern - notably on Wall Street, where shares of the two companies slumped further - that the plan won't be enough.
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By Sunday, it hardly mattered whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were rock solid or teetering on the verge of collapse from a real or imagined liquidity crisis. Confronted with the prospect of a stockholder stampede when markets opened Monday as the two mortgage giants prepared to sell huge amounts of debts to raise cash, the Treasury and Federal Reserve stepped in Sunday afternoon to open their credit windows to support both agencies. Indeed, they announced their action early enough to calm...
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HOME MORTGAGE REGULATION; Wise steps by state in sub-prime mess
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Developments of the last four days make clear that the extent of damage caused by sub-prime mortgages has yet to be fully measured. The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve are planning unprecedented steps to protect Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, U.S.-backed companies that guarantee almost half of all U.S. mortgages. If Congress approves, the actions proposed by the Bush adminstration will open the door to sizable taxpayer exposure in the widening credit crisis. That ominous atmosphere...
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