Race and Homeownership
A common rationale for federal policies to expand homeownership is the desire to reduce observed racial differences in homeownership. Receiving the most attention has been the gap in homeownership...
View ArticleAre Mortgages Cheaper in the U.S.?
As Congress and the White House continue to debate the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, one of the oft heard concerns is that if we eliminate all the various mortgage subsidies in our system, then...
View ArticleHousing Stimulus Fails
On Tuesday, Case-Shiller released their monthly housing price index. Surprise, it fell by 4.2% in the first quarter of 2011. I’ve been predicting a decline of about 6% over the course of 2011 (might...
View ArticleFannie Mae: No Hope or Change
The Washington Post is reporting that President Obama has assigned his staff with the task of designing a new set of government guarantees behind the U.S. mortgage market. Although as the Post also...
View ArticleRandom Thoughts on Obama’s New Mortgage Plan
In case you missed it, President Obama gave a big speech out in Las Vegas about both his “jobs” plan and a new plan to help underwater borrowers re-finance their mortgage.Mark CalabriaOctober 25, 2011...
View ArticleIt Was those Bad Speculators That Drove the Housing Bubble...
A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York examines the role of speculators in driving the housing bubble. Setting aside the fact that almost everyone who bought a house was...
View ArticleWhatever the Role of Fannie and Freddie in the Financial Crisis, They Need to Go
Recent actions against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also produced the standard reaction by GSE apologists. The New York Times’ Joe Nocera was quick to...
View ArticleFHA and the Foreclosures of Tomorrow
The recently released Federal Reserve White Paper on the Housing Market has received considerable attention, at least for its policy proposals. I found one of the more interesting pieces of data in...
View ArticleObama's Unwelcome Mat
In his State of the Union address, President Obama let us know that he will be “sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their...
View ArticleFHA Bailout Is Inevitable, But Taxpayer Pain Is Not
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s 2012 audit confirmed what has been obvious for some time: FHA is deeply underwater, with a negative economic value of $34 billion. With over $1 trillion in...
View ArticleWho Works at the Minimum Wage?
Recent protests by fast food workers have renewed interest in the minimum wage. Often, these protests focus on the inability of an individual worker to support a family on the minimum wage. Such a...
View ArticleFederal Homeownership Policy: Money for Nothing
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times ran a column repeating the simplistic notion that since homeownership is “good” then subsidies for homeownership must therefore also be “good.” Never asked, or...
View ArticleBailouts Leave a Legacy of Cronyism
This month’s sale by the Treasury of its remaining shares in General Motors should offer us all an opportunity to say “never again.”Mark CalabriaDecember 23, 2013 - 2:20pm
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