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 11/27/09 the Douglas Taylor RePage is ranked at 10,915 with 30 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 Plymouth, MI

Latitude: 42.372636 -- Longitude: -83.46852

Other Area Cities: Plymouth Canton Northville Novi Redford Livonia Farmington Hills West Bloomfield Ann Arbor Beverly Hills Dearborn Dearborn Heights Farmington Garden City Inkster Oak Park South Lyon Southfield Walled Lake Westland Whitmore Lake Wixom Ypsilanti

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

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

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

The first settlers to come to what is now known as Plymouth, Michigan, were Keziah (Benjamin) and William Starkweather. Farmers from Ct., they purchased 240 acres of land from the United States Government on March 11, 1825, for $1.25 an acre. Mr. and Ms Starkweather came from Preston, CT., where the Starkweather family had lived at least as early as 1694, according to a land gift record in which Captain John Masons gave land to Robert Starkweather, Williams GG Grandfather. William, ninth born of 11 siblings, and his wife Keziah brought their first born son Albert to the area, and built the first home in Plymouth, at the South West Corner of Main Street and Ann Arbor Trail. The first home was a rustic lean to, and was later replaced by a log cabin which has since been lost to time. William's eldest Son Albert died at age 20 while attending the newly formed University of Michigan as a Sophomore. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Michigan 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Plymouth	Michigan	United States
Population	9,022	9,938,444	281,421,906
Median age	37.9	35.5	35.3
Median age for Male	36	34.3	34
Median age for Female	39.9	36.6	36.5
Households	4,322	3,785,661	105,480,101
Household population	8,820	9,688,555	273,643,273
Average household size	2.04	2.56	2.59
Families	2,276	2,575,699	71,787,347
Average family size	2.81	3.1	3.14
Housing units	4,498	4,234,279	115,904,641
Occupied units	4,322	3,785,661	105,480,101
Vacant units	176	448,618	10,424,540

Visit US Census