NAR Stimulus Package.. A Wishlist?

National Association of Realtors began asserting itself in Washington this last week as it began urging President George Bush and other law makers to push harder to get Government Sponsored Enterprises, like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, to increase conforming loan limits. If successful, the current loan amount limits would jump from $417,000 to $625,000. This plea to stabilize the housing market and protect home owners was sent via letter to Speaker of The House, Nancy Pelosi. The letter also points out the following benefits of a Conforming loan amount increase,

• reduce the supply of homes on the market by one to one-and-one-half months,
• strengthen home prices by two to three percentage points
• increase economic activity by $42 billion.
• An additional NAR report shows that increasing conforming loan limits could help reduce foreclosures by 140,000 to 210,000 and result in an additional 348,000 home sales.

“We believe that any stimulus package must address housing issues and increasing the conforming loan limits for these two government-sponsored enterprises,” said NAR President Dick Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif. “The increase in loan limits would not only improve liquidity in the mortgage marketplace, but also boost homebuyers’ confidence levels, resulting in increased sales and economic activity.”With a gloomy outlook on the economy and housing in particular, look for lawmakers to look at this component of an economic stimulus package very closely as well as quick passage of pending FHA resolutions on loan limits.

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