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 12/04/09 the Charles London RePage is ranked at 8,988 with 40 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 Ocean City, NJ

Latitude: 39.265371 -- Longitude: -74.593814

Other Area Cities: Ocean City Absecon Cedar Grove Egg Harbor City Linwood Margate City Middletown Northfield Pleasantville Somers Point Ventnor City

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

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

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

Ocean City is a city in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is the principal city of the 'Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Cape May County. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 15,378 in the winter months. In the summer months, the town's population can (and often does) swell over 110,000. Ocean City is known as a family seaside resort that has prohibited the sales of alcoholic beverages within its limits since the city's founding in 1879. Ocean City is a very popular vacation area in South Jersey. More families flock here than other New Jersey beaches because of its laws regarding the sale of alcohol. The Travel Channel rated Ocean City as the Best Family Beach of 2005. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

New Jersey 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Ocean City	New Jersey	United States
Population	15,378	8,414,350	281,421,906
Median age	47.8	36.7	35.3
Median age for Male	45.4	35.5	34
Median age for Female	50.3	38	36.5
Households	7,464	3,064,645	105,480,101
Household population	15,089	8,219,529	273,643,273
Average household size	2.02	2.68	2.59
Families	4,007	2,154,539	71,787,347
Average family size	2.71	3.21	3.14
Housing units	20,298	3,310,275	115,904,641
Occupied units	7,464	3,064,645	105,480,101
Vacant units	12,834	245,630	10,424,540

Visit US Census