Positive Coverage for week ending February 17
NPR, February 17, 2012
“New Republic: Young People Won’t Vote In 2012”
The data suggest that three factors consistently make a difference in voting rates: money, marriage, and homeownership. Those are the adult commitments that give people a stake in society; to protect and expand their stake, they vote.
Read more...
MarketWatch, February 16, 2012
“Americans are still sold on owning homes”
Despite the beating that home prices have taken over the last five years, Americans are still optimistic about their own housing situation, a new poll shows. Seventy-eight percent of Americans identified as likely to vote in the 2012 presidential election said that owning their own home was one of the most important things in their lives, according to a survey released at the International Builders Show. And 74% agreed, with 43% strongly agreeing, that owning a home was worth it even with all the ups and downs of the housing market.
Read more....
AGBeat, February 14, 2012
“Obama budget to cut waste, including mortgage interest deductions”
President Obama has now presented his fiscal year budget and while many believe Congress will not support the proposed cuts and added spending, the National Association of Realtors is focusing on the mortgage interest deduction. NAR President Moe Veissi said in a statement that the association would strongly oppose this or any proposal that would limit MID and other itemized deductions. “The mortgage interest deduction is vital to the stability of the American housing market and economy.
Read more....
Opposing Viewpoints for Week Ending February 17
New York Times, February 16, 2012
“The U.S. Foreclosure Crisis, Beverly Hills-Style”
Across the United States, the largest increase in foreclosures and delinquencies, compared with 2008 levels, is with "jumbo" mortgages - loans too large to be insured by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government controlled mortgage finance providers. Welcome to foreclosure Beverly Hills-style. But the dynamics of the residential real estate collapse are very different in elite neighborhoods. The majority of delinquent homeowners here owe more than $1 million. Many are walking away not because they can't pay, but because they judge it would be foolish to keep doing so.
Read more....
Reuters, February 15, 2012
“New American Dream is renting to get rich”
Rich Arzaga owns a luxury home in San Ramon, California, but he's not betting on it as an investment. Arzaga, CEO of Cornerstone Wealth Management, bought the 5,000 sq. ft. property in 2005 for $1.8 million and has spent $500,000 improving it, and considers the abode a wonderful place for his family. But ask him to rate his home -- or any home, for that matter -- as a financial investment, and Arzaga balks. "It's the American Dream to own a home, but whoever said that didn't do the analysis on it," says Arzaga, knowing he's taking a contrarian stance to conventional wisdom.
Read more...
Times Union.com, February 11, 2012
“Learn the causes, then fix the problem”
In stating that the banks brought down the housing market ("Mr. Obama sees the crisis," Jan. 26), you provide cover for the President's version of that market's decline. Failing to mention that our government's intervention in the mortgage market was the root cause of the housing bubble makes your opinion sound like a partisan argument.
Read more....