By: Dennis Norman
Fix Housing First is a coalition that has been pushing Congress for a housing stimulus package that they feel would have a more significant, and longer-term, positive affect on the real estate market and economy than the current stimulus plan being considered by Congress.
The coalition has identified falling home values as being at the core of the current economic crisis. They feel that Americans are hesitant to buy homes now because of fear that prices won’t stabilize anytime soon. The coalition blames the loss of thousands (soon to be millions) of jobs as well as the failure of many small businesses as a result of the housing crisis. I think this is hard to argue with and I have seen many examples of this in my part of the country and am sure there are many examples around the country.
Fix Housing First says the solution is “foreclosure prevention coupled with short-term, targeted incentives that will encourage Americans to buy homes again.” To accomplish this the coalition is urging Congress to quickly pass a plan that would include, among other things:
make ALL primary residence purchases between April 9, 2008 and December 31, 2009 eligible for the credit make the credit amount 10% of the home price with a cap based upon home values in geographic areas (cap would be $10,000-$22,000) Credit only to be repaid if house is sold within 3 years Allow credit to be used towards down payment
2.99% for contracts closed between now and June 30, 2009 3.99% for contracts closed between June 30, 2009 and December 31, 2009
The coalition points out that both of the incentives above worked in 1975 when Congress passed a short-term $2,000 tax credit for all new homes (equivalent of $12,000 today after adjusting for inflation) coupled with subsidized mortgage rates.
Just yesterday, Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga) introduced legislation that includes the suggestions from Fix Housing First outlined above. His legislation is titled “ Fix Housing First ” legislation. (Click on the link to hear what Senator Isakson said about the legislation on radio yesterday)
While there is no easy fix to this mess we are in I personally like the suggestions of the Fix Housing First coalition and support the legislation introduced by Senator Isakson. Afterall if we can throw $700 million at the banks to help them out why not help out the taxpayers that will be footing that bill?
I would encourage you to check out the website for Fix Housing First to get more information and then if you are so inclined contact your Senator and urge support of this legislation.
Related Posts
- Housing comes up short in “Stimulus” plan
- National Association of REALTORS(R) Urge Congress to help the housing market
- Homebuyer tax credit has been primary cause of recent return of buyers to market according to study
- Almost 1 in 5 prospective homebuyers say extending $8,000 tax credit to 2010 would be primary influence on their decision to buy
- Congress could help over 500,000 people buy homes
[...] the beginning of this year I wrote a post about Fix Housing First, a coalition that was originally working to convince Congress for a housing [...]
[...] the beginning of this year I wrote a post about Fix Housing First, a coalition that was originally working to convince Congress for a housing [...]