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First-Timer, Boomers Feel Housing Downturn Most
Philadelphia Inquirer (05/26/10) Heavens, Alan J.
Two segments of the population that the housing industry hoped would feed future growth -- young people buying their first homes and baby boomers downsizing -- may be most affected by what is becoming a prolonged housing slump. A Mortgage Bankers Association study notes that today's steep jobless rate "could have a lasting effect on lifetime earnings and attitudes toward risk and social policies" for 16-to-24-year-olds. Boomers, meanwhile, are putting off retirement or going back to work in order to rebuild retirement wealth that was lost in the recession.
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Housing Prices Remain Weak
Wall Street Journal (05/26/10) P. A2; Murray, Sara
The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index fell 0.5 percent in March from the month before, its sixth straight month of decline, but residential prices in the 20-city index were still up 2.3 percent from March 2009. Meanwhile, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reports that home prices nationwide rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent in March and were down 2.2 percent from the same month last year. Although the two reports diverge for March, they still reveal an overall trend of stabilization in home prices after a downward spike during the recession.
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More Aid Expected for Fannie, Freddie
Washington Post (05/26/10) P. A14
In its annual report to Congress, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reports that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will require more government aid amid losses stemming from the 2008 credit crisis. Since being seized by Washington in the fall of 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have survived on a commitment of unlimited U.S. aid and have drawn $145 billion in Treasury Department funding to date.
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Administration Stumps for Lending Fund
American Banker (05/26/10) P. 16; Hopkins, Cheyenne
In a speech to observe National Small Business Week, President Obama reiterated his support for a proposed $30 billion fund to encourage small-business lending among community and neighborhood banks. The House Financial Services Committee has approved a proposal to create a fund to provide capital to community banks, but Republicans criticized it as another bailout. Administration officials said the measure would be added to a small-business jobs package that Congress is likely to act on after the Memorial Day recess.
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Senators Appointed to Hammer Out Differences With House on Financial Overhaul
Washington Post (05/26/10) P. A13; Dennis, Brady
Senate leaders on May 25 appointed seven Democrats and five Republicans to meet with counterparts in the House over the next several weeks to iron out differences between new financial rules approved by each chamber of Congress. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., is spearheading the effort and hopes to deliver a final bill to the president by July 4. Staff members are expected to have compiled a list of the differences between the two bills by May 26.
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"We are now at a point in the market where there are transactions to be done."
--Charles Windham, vice president of Protective Life Corp., Birmingham, Ala.
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