Barack Obama to unveil plan for housing market
The Financial Express, February 19, 2009, Page 13
Reuters, Washington
US President Barack Obama was set on Wednesday to unveil a plan to stabilize the troubled housing market, a main cause of the economy's deepening slump.
Fresh from signing into law a sweeping $787 billion fiscal stimulus package, Obama is turning his attention to the housing market, where foreclosures have continued to climb despite earlier initiatives aimed at halting that trend. The Obama plan will involve government subsidies to mortgage servicers and lenders to encourage them to lower payments for borrowers in distress.
The aim is to bring mortgage payments to a more affordable range of around 31% of borrowers' incomes. The administration has closely guarded the details of the roughly $50 billion plan but sources familiar with it have made clear it would be bolder than prior efforts to stem foreclosures.
Obama will outline the plan in a speech at a high school in Mesa, Arizona at 10:15 a.m. Mountain time (1715 GMT). It marks the second day of a two-day campaign-style swing Obama is taking to highlight his economic initiatives.
On Tuesday, he signed the stimulus bill into law at an event in Denver where he touted initiatives in the package aimed at encouraging the development of alternative energy sources, such as solar and wind power.
Obama said the stimulus package would "mark the beginning of the end" of the ills facing the economy, though he said it would not solve all the problems. On Wall Street, continued worries about the global economy sent US stock prices down toward their lows reached in November. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 297.81 points, or 3.8 % to 7,552.60. The Obama administration faces pressure to ensure the roll-out of the housing plan goes as smoothly as possible. A plan last week by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to address the turmoil in the banking industry led to a drop in stock prices as investors panned it as lacking in detail.
An overhang of bad mortgage debt has contributed to the economy's difficulties because it has made it harder for consumers and businesses to get loans from banks. Stabilising the housing market could ease some of the problems with the banks.
At the end of last year, just over 9 % of all home loans in the United States were in arrears or already in foreclosure, the Mortgage Bankers Association has said.
The Financial Express, February 19, 2009, Page 13
Reuters, Washington
US President Barack Obama was set on Wednesday to unveil a plan to stabilize the troubled housing market, a main cause of the economy's deepening slump.
Fresh from signing into law a sweeping $787 billion fiscal stimulus package, Obama is turning his attention to the housing market, where foreclosures have continued to climb despite earlier initiatives aimed at halting that trend. The Obama plan will involve government subsidies to mortgage servicers and lenders to encourage them to lower payments for borrowers in distress.
The aim is to bring mortgage payments to a more affordable range of around 31% of borrowers' incomes. The administration has closely guarded the details of the roughly $50 billion plan but sources familiar with it have made clear it would be bolder than prior efforts to stem foreclosures.
Obama will outline the plan in a speech at a high school in Mesa, Arizona at 10:15 a.m. Mountain time (1715 GMT). It marks the second day of a two-day campaign-style swing Obama is taking to highlight his economic initiatives.
On Tuesday, he signed the stimulus bill into law at an event in Denver where he touted initiatives in the package aimed at encouraging the development of alternative energy sources, such as solar and wind power.
Obama said the stimulus package would "mark the beginning of the end" of the ills facing the economy, though he said it would not solve all the problems. On Wall Street, continued worries about the global economy sent US stock prices down toward their lows reached in November. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 297.81 points, or 3.8 % to 7,552.60. The Obama administration faces pressure to ensure the roll-out of the housing plan goes as smoothly as possible. A plan last week by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to address the turmoil in the banking industry led to a drop in stock prices as investors panned it as lacking in detail.
An overhang of bad mortgage debt has contributed to the economy's difficulties because it has made it harder for consumers and businesses to get loans from banks. Stabilising the housing market could ease some of the problems with the banks.
At the end of last year, just over 9 % of all home loans in the United States were in arrears or already in foreclosure, the Mortgage Bankers Association has said.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment