National Association of Realtors Proposes Housing Incentives

November 20, 2008

As a Realtor® and owner of a nationwide relocation company, I am daily faced with the effects of the economic meltdown on our real estate members all over the country. Consumer confidence is at an all time low which is adding to the current housing crisis. Buyers who have stable jobs and good income are postponing purchasing a home due to fear.

We need action by lawmakers NOW - not in January. Hopefully the lame duck Congress will listen to reason, and pass some meaningful bills! Bills that will RESTORE CONSUMER CONFIDENCE so that homebuyers are not frozen by fear! Even in areas which have a strong economy (low unemployment, healthy job outlook, no real estate bubble bursting) buyers are holding off buying – waiting for a lower interest rate, or the assurance that they'll buy at the absolute bottom price. They are also frustrated with the current lending environment that places a variety of barriers to getting a mortgage. This further impedes sales and price stabilization of the housing market.

A recent consumer survey conducted by Realogy Corp. (a National Association of Realtors ® member) stated how important housing is to this country's economic recovery. The survey found that nine out of 10 homeowners believe that owning a home is still the best long-term investment. But this same survey said that most people are not buying right now because of uncertainty about the market.

Recently the National Association of Realtors® sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson outlining steps he could take to stabilize the housing market. They also presented this plan to the House Financial Services Committee on November 18th. The four steps the recommended are:

1) Make the $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit available to all homebuyers and eliminate the repayment requirement.
2) Make the increased 2008 FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac loan limits permanent so that all American families can find a safe and affordable mortgage when buying a home.
3) Get the $700 billion Treasury relief program back on track and focused on providing stability to the nation's housing markets and reducing foreclosures.
4) Bar banks from real estate brokerage and management activities permanently, to avoid exposing consumers and the economy to more unnecessary risks.

NAR also provided an economic analysis demonstrating that a reduction, or a buydown, of interest rates by just 1 percentage point could result in up to 840,000 additional home sales and reduce the inventory of homes by as much as 20 percent. Substantially lower mortgage rates would stimulate both existing- and new-home sales.

These are great first steps to getting home sales going again.

It was Richard Nixon who said, "A recession is anytime people lose confidence in the future." Now is the time to restore confidence, people!

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Local Information for Reading, PA

Latitude: 40.341692 -- Longitude: -75.926301

Other Area Cities: Reading Wyomissing Birdsboro

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Reading (IPA:/'r?d??/) is the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania and the center of the Greater Reading Area. In the 2000 census, the city had a population of 81,207, making it the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, and Erie, and the sixth largest municipality after Upper Darby Township. Overlooking the city on Mount Penn is Reading's symbol, a Japanese pagoda visible from everywhere in town and referred to familiarly as "the Pagoda". Duryea Drive, which ascends Mount Penn in a series of sharp bends, was a testing place for early automobiles. The city lent its name to the now-defunct Reading Railroad, which brought anthracite coal from the Pennsylvania Coal Regions. The railroad is one of the four railroad properties in the classic English-language version of the Monopoly board game. Reading was one of the first localities where outlet shopping became a tourist industry. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Pennsylvania 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Reading	Pennsylvania	United States
Population	81,207	12,281,054	281,421,906
Median age	30.6	38	35.3
Median age for Male	29.3	36.5	34
Median age for Female	31.9	39.4	36.5
Households	30,113	4,777,003	105,480,101
Household population	79,082	11,847,753	273,643,273
Average household size	2.63	2.48	2.59
Families	18,423	3,208,388	71,787,347
Average family size	3.33	3.04	3.14
Housing units	34,314	5,249,750	115,904,641
Occupied units	30,113	4,777,003	105,480,101
Vacant units	4,201	472,747	10,424,540

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