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 Houston, TX

Latitude: 29.762895 -- Longitude: -95.383173

Other Area Cities: Piney Point Village Katy Pearland League City Houston Bellaire Galena Park Jacinto City North Houston South Houston Spring Valley Friendswood Pasadena Deer Park Sugar Land Humble Baytown La Porte

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Houston is the largest city in the state of Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States. The city covers more than 600 square miles (1,600 km²) and is the county seat of Harris County—the third-most populous county in the country.[1] As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, Houston had a population of more than 2 million.[2] The city is at the heart of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with a population of 5.4 million in 10 counties. Houston is internationally known for its energy (particularly oil) and aeronautics industries, and for its ship channel. The area is also the world's leading center for building oilfield equipment. The Port of Houston ranks first in the country in international commerce and is the sixth-largest port in the world. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Texas 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Houston	Texas	United States
Population	1,953,631	20,851,820	281,421,906
Median age	30.9	32.3	35.3
Median age for Male	30.2	31.3	34
Median age for Female	31.8	33.4	36.5
Households	717,945	7,393,354	105,480,101
Household population	1,920,375	20,290,711	273,643,273
Average household size	2.67	2.74	2.59
Families	457,549	5,247,794	71,787,347
Average family size	3.39	3.28	3.14
Housing units	782,009	8,157,575	115,904,641
Occupied units	717,945	7,393,354	105,480,101
Vacant units	64,064	764,221	10,424,540

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