Browse by Tags

Have a bright idea about how the government can best liquidate the current huge inventory of owned real estate (REO) currently held by FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Here is your chance to be heard. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the conservator of the two government sponsored enterprises (GSE) in conjunction with the Departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are requesting options for selling or otherwise putting the houses into useful service. The three issued...

Affordable rental housing is the focus of the second edition of Evidence Matters , the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) new quarterly publication devoted to housing and community development issues. This edition focuses on several proposals that came out of the Next Generation Housing Policy Conference held last October. The Conference, sponsored by the White House, HUD and the Departments of Treasury and Agriculture, brought together prominent housing experts and practitioners...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced $50 million in capacity building grants to three national groups that support affordable housing and community development. The grants, which require a three-to-one private/public partnership, were awarded to Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC); Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.; and Habitat for Humanity International. These organizations will distribute the funds to 250 communities across the U.S. The monies are expected to...

After a huge improvement in May, multi-family housing starts led the overall starts number lower with a 26,000 unit decline. Single-family starts fell only 3,000 units. In terms of building permits, the multi-family category led the way higher with a 27,000 unit improvement. Single-family permits continued their losing streak. While multi-family building will likely benefit from affordable housing initiatives, both single-family new construction metrics (permits and starts) have gone stagnate near record low levels. ...

FDIC Chairperson Sheila Barr told a group of non-profit housing developers Monday that the government needs to temper its focus on home ownership to allow for more emphasis on affordable rental rental housing and the borrower education process....

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan presented the details of a new rental assistance program to members of Congress on Tuesday. The program is part of the President's 2011 budget request....

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae may have recently come to appreciate the old saw "be careful what you wish for."

A year or so ago Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was giving the two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) a lot of grief about their loan portfolios, particularly in light of the trouble that both had gotten into with accounting irregularities and the regulatory requirements to increase their capital reserves. It is likely that the executives of both corporations were counting the days until Greenspan's scheduled retirement.

So, retire he did, only to be replaced by Ben Bernanke...

...