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 11/22/09 the Rich Maxfield RePage is ranked at 7,431 with 35 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 Clearfield, UT

Latitude: 41.106511 -- Longitude: -112.024182

Other Area Cities: Clearfield Ogden Kaysville Layton

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

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

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

Clearfield is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. The population was 25,974 at the 2000 census.and in 2004 was estimated at 27,227. The city grew drastically during the 1940s, with the formation of Hill Air Force Base, and in the 1950s with the nation-wide increase in suburb and "bedroom" community populations and has been steadily growing since then.As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 25,974 people, 7,921 households, and 6,265 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,294.0/km² (3,351.9/mi²). There were 8,374 housing units at an average density of 417.2/km² (1,080.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.18% White, 3.61% African American, 1.61% Native American, 2.81% Asian, 0.28% Pacific Islander, 4.84% from other races, and 3.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.58% of the population. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Utah 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Clearfield	Utah	United States
Population	25,974	2,233,169	281,421,906
Median age	24	27.1	35.3
Median age for Male	23.4	26.7	34
Median age for Female	24.6	27.7	36.5
Households	7,921	701,281	105,480,101
Household population	24,703	2,192,689	273,643,273
Average household size	3.12	3.13	2.59
Families	6,262	535,294	71,787,347
Average family size	3.51	3.57	3.14
Housing units	8,374	768,594	115,904,641
Occupied units	7,921	701,281	105,480,101
Vacant units	453	67,313	10,424,540

Visit US Census