NAR: Obama's on the Right Track
The National Association of REALTORS® praised President Barack Obama's forceful speech on Monday reiterating that the economy remains his primary concern going forward.
Obama took the fifth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers as an opportunity to remind the country that his administration has taken bold steps to stabilize the economy. Chief among them are measures to help the housing market recover from disaster.
NAR’s 2013 President Gary Thomas, CEO Dale Stinton, and 2013 President-Elect Steve Brown were invited to be at the White House with other members of the NAR Leadership Team as Obama remarked on the housing market’s steady return to normalcy.
"Most Americans who’ve known economic hardship these past several years, they don’t think about the collapse of Lehman Brothers when they think about the recession," Obama said. "Instead, they recall the day they got the gut punch of a pink slip or the day that a bank took away their home." Obama then ticked down a list of actions he has taken to build the economy back up, naming the Home Affordable Modification Program as a top measure that has helped struggling home owners.
After Obama's speech, Thomas said REALTORS®' support was critical in helping the Obama administration's efforts to stabilize the housing market and extend an olive branch to home owners on the brink of losing their homes.
"With NAR’s support, the administration enacted key policies to stabilize the market, recover home values, ensure access to affordable credit, and most importantly, renew faith in the value of homeownership," Thomas said. "REALTORS® supported efforts to help more than 7 million underwater homeowners refinance their homes or modify their mortgages."
But the hard work isn't over, he cautioned.
"To protect future home buyers from unscrupulous lending practices, NAR continues our work with the administration and Congress to develop new lending standards that create opportunities for private capital to re-establish itself as part of a robust and competitive mortgage market," Thomas said.
Obama took the fifth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers as an opportunity to remind the country that his administration has taken bold steps to stabilize the economy. Chief among them are measures to help the housing market recover from disaster.
NAR’s 2013 President Gary Thomas, CEO Dale Stinton, and 2013 President-Elect Steve Brown were invited to be at the White House with other members of the NAR Leadership Team as Obama remarked on the housing market’s steady return to normalcy.
"Most Americans who’ve known economic hardship these past several years, they don’t think about the collapse of Lehman Brothers when they think about the recession," Obama said. "Instead, they recall the day they got the gut punch of a pink slip or the day that a bank took away their home." Obama then ticked down a list of actions he has taken to build the economy back up, naming the Home Affordable Modification Program as a top measure that has helped struggling home owners.
After Obama's speech, Thomas said REALTORS®' support was critical in helping the Obama administration's efforts to stabilize the housing market and extend an olive branch to home owners on the brink of losing their homes.
"With NAR’s support, the administration enacted key policies to stabilize the market, recover home values, ensure access to affordable credit, and most importantly, renew faith in the value of homeownership," Thomas said. "REALTORS® supported efforts to help more than 7 million underwater homeowners refinance their homes or modify their mortgages."
But the hard work isn't over, he cautioned.
"To protect future home buyers from unscrupulous lending practices, NAR continues our work with the administration and Congress to develop new lending standards that create opportunities for private capital to re-establish itself as part of a robust and competitive mortgage market," Thomas said.
