Housing Stimulus - Industry News

• Home Buyer Tax Credit's Impact Exaggerated, Analysts Say
  Some analysts are downplaying the controversial stimulus' effect on the housing market saying it has not helped as much as everyone has claimed.
• Success of Economic Stimulus Unknown
  The latest numbers on U.S. gross domestic product show a dramatic improvement in the economy during the third quarter, but they do little to settle the question of how much the government's unprecedented stimulus program helped or hurt the economy. This article provides some insight.
• How Some Have Benefitted from the Stimulus Package
  We recently reached the 250th day since passage of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act – that $787 billion economic-stimulus package we’ve all been hearing so much about. While there may have been no fanfare to mark the 250-day milestone, some who have benefited from the program have reason to celebrate.
• Home Buyer Credit Critics See Default Risk
  As the political pressure builds to extend and possibly expand the first-time home buyer tax credit to all buyers, a growing chorus of critics says the program is a clunker that should be scrapped. Here’s a look at their arguments.
• Feds Help Feed New Market for Easy Mortgages
  Some people fear that the significant expansion and liberalization of FHA's loan programs is enabling Americans to go back to many of the same bad credit practices that analysts say were at the root of the housing crisis.
• Foreclosures, Unemployment Expected to Peak Next Year
  Foreclosures will peak by the end of next year and unemployment will climb above 10 percent as the housing market and U.S. economy grapple with the aftermath of the recession, the Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist reports.
• Census Report: Housing is Less Affordable
  While it seems a little difficult to believe considering that home prices across the U.S. are in a major state of depression, Census Bureau statistics are showing that a growing number of the population found housing unaffordable last year. Here are the details.
• Stimulus Implementation a Struggle for Organizations
  Results of a survey focused on how companies and government agencies across the nation are planning to use the $787 billion economic stimulus package showed that many organizations face a common chicken or egg situation.
• Indiana Energy Conservation Stimulus Program Approved
  The State of Indiana's energy conservation proposal to use nearly $132 million in federal stimulus funding to help more than 30,000 low-income Hoosier households has been approved by the U.S. Department of Energy. It could mean opportunity for remodeling and home building firms in that state.
• Energy Tax Rebates Stir Interest, Not Sales
  How enthusiastically have consumers embraced the energy tax credit opportunity? It seems that harsh economic realities may have more influence than the tempting lure of rebates and tax credits. It also seems that certain types of energy efficient upgrades have fared better than others.
• Florida Sitting on Stimulus Windfall
  At a time when the unemployment rate in Florida is painfully high, thousands of jobs promised by the federal stimulus program have not yet arrived. Florida ranks last in the country when it comes to spending highway money approved in the economic stimulus program. Could that, and other, states be sitting on a stimulus windfall?
• Increase in Construction Jobs in Oregon is an Illusion
  After a long decline, the number of Oregon construction jobs held steady from April to May and increased from May to June. That generated hope for an industry that has been losing jobs since 2007. However, it's not a recovery, economists and employers say, but rather a hiccup, a mirage.
• Making Home Affordable Program on Pace
  Here's an update on the government's Making Homes Affordable program
• Pace of Stimulus Spending Picks Up
  One-hundred-sixty-eight days after the $787 billion bill passed, Americans have been wondering: Where are their new bridges, their new sewers, their extra police officers, the solar panels on the government buildings? Most of all, where are the new jobs? For Ohio, like other states, it's a mixed answer.
• Housing Begins Slow Rebound
  By every measure, except foreclosures, the housing market has stabilized and many areas of the U.S. are recovering, according to a spate of data released in the past two weeks. Check it out.

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