At their recent meeting in Orlando, Florida, directors of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) gave formal approval to NAR's Housing Stimulus Plan. The plan, to be submitted to Congress in its lame-duck session, is designed to end the free-fall of values in the housing market. It aims to do this by providing sufficient incentives to get potential buyers "off the fence." The plan has four points.
(1) Make the current $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit available to all homebuyers and, also, eliminate its repayment provisions.
(2) Make the 2008 FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits permanent. Currently, those limits have been raised to $729,750, but those are due to be reduced to $625,000 in 2009.
(3) Use funds from the $700 billion rescue plan (a.k.a. "the bailout") to institute a temporary (probably two-year) federal mortgage interest buy-down program to lower rates to 4.5% or lower for a thirty-year fixed rate mortgage. This would apply to homebuyers purchasing new or existing homes up to $1 million in price.
(4) Permanently ban banks from engaging in real estate brokerage and management.
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For more information on foreclosures or any real estate properties contact Matthew McCarthy at MatthewMcCarthy@remax.net
