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!

As of 11/21/09 the Michael Hatz RePage is ranked at 5,033 with 45 points.
The monthly top RePage owner will receive a cash prize. Help this agent by bookmarking this site and posting it to blogs and other Web pages and encourage others to visit.

Local Information for Park City, UT

Latitude: 40.659306 -- Longitude: -111.499828

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your Park City photos!

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

Submit your photos of Park City and become eligible to win $200. Click Here for details.

Park City is a city located in the state of Utah in the United States. It is one of two major resort towns in Utah, the other being Moab. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back and a part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The city is 30 miles (48 km) east of downtown Salt Lake City and 15 miles (24km) from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugarhouse along Interstate 80. The population was 7,371 at the 2000 census. Its estimated population in 2004 was 7,882. On average, the tourist population greatly outnumbers full-time residents. After a population decline following the shutdown of the area's mining industry the city rebounded during the 1980s and 1990s in the tourism business. The city has three major ski resorts: Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley Resort, and The Canyons Resort. The Park City and Deer Valley ski resorts were the major locations for ski and snowboarding events at the 2002 Winter Olympics. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Utah 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Park City	Utah	United States
Population	7,371	2,233,169	281,421,906
Median age	32.7	27.1	35.3
Median age for Male	31.6	26.7	34
Median age for Female	34.2	27.7	36.5
Households	2,705	701,281	105,480,101
Household population	7,358	2,192,689	273,643,273
Average household size	2.72	3.13	2.59
Families	1,688	535,294	71,787,347
Average family size	3.11	3.57	3.14
Housing units	6,661	768,594	115,904,641
Occupied units	2,705	701,281	105,480,101
Vacant units	3,956	67,313	10,424,540

Visit US Census