Housing Market is Stabilizing

Yesterday, the FHA Commissioner stated that the housing market is stabilizing and on its way to a recovery. This, you must realize, is coming from an expert as FHA has played an integral roll in stabilizing our housing market by increasing its market share dramatically.

“Home prices and sales are beginning to recover, inventories are down, private capital is beginning to re-emerge, investor confidence is coming back and the job market is showing signs of improvement. These all show renewed confidence in the housing market. We need to finish the job now and make the housing recovery sustainable and keep the economy on the right track,” said David Stevens, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Federal Housing Administration commissioner.

But Stevens believes that we still need to work on certain areas to continue our recovery. He believes that in order to aid the recovery we need to help people stay in their homes if we can, staving off foreclosures and short sales and in turn stabilizing home prices.

And more importantly, he feels that it is critical to reform FHA. He is looking to allow FHA to hold lenders accountable for the loans they underwrite as well grant FHA the authority to adjust the annual mortgage insurance premium and reduce borrowers’ upfront mortgage insurance premiums. “Adopting these changes during the current fiscal year would replenish FHA’s capital reserves and strengthen its financial position,” said Stevens.

Source: National Association of Realtors