A Better Bargain for Responsible, Middle Class Homeowners
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/08/10/weekly-address-better-bargain-responsible-middle-class-homeowners?utm_source=snapshot&utm_medium=email&utm_content=081013-topper
In this week’s address, President Obama says that the
housing market is starting to heal, and now it’s time to build on that progress
by creating a better bargain for responsible, middle class homeowners. The
President announced steps he will take to strengthen the housing market, and
now Congress must act to help make homeownership a source of pride and middle
class security for generations to come.
Hi, everybody. For
the past few weeks, I’ve been visiting folks across America to talk about what we need
to do as a country to secure a better bargain for the middle class.
I’ve been laying out my ideas for how we can build on the
cornerstones of what it means to be middle class in America. A good job.
A good education. Affordable
health care when you get sick. A secure
retirement even if you’re not rich. And
the chance to own your own home.
This week, I went to Arizona
and California,
two of the states hit hardest when the housing bubble burst, triggering the
recession. All across the country,
millions of responsible Americans were hurt badly by the reckless actions of
others. Home values plummeted.
Construction workers were laid off. And
many families lost their homes.
Over the past four years, we’ve worked to help millions of
responsible homeowners get back on their feet.
And while we’re not where we need to be yet, our housing market is
beginning to heal. Home prices and sales
are rising. Construction is up.
Foreclosures are down. Millions
of families have come up for air because they’re no longer underwater on their
mortgages.
Now we have to build on this progress. Congress should give every American the
chance to refinance at today’s low rates.
We should help more qualified families get a mortgage and buy their
first home. We should get construction
workers back on the job rebuilding communities hit hardest by the crisis. And we should make sure that folks who don’t
want to buy a home have decent,
affordable places to rent.
As home prices rise, we have to turn the page on the
bubble-and-bust mentality that created this mess, and build a housing system
that’s rock-solid and rewards responsibility for generations to come. We need to wind down the companies known as
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, make sure private capital plays a bigger role in
the mortgage market, and end the era of expecting a bailout after your pursuit
of profit puts the whole country at risk. We need to preserve access to safe
and simple mortgages like the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage. We need to keep laying down rules of the road
that protect homeowners when they’re making the biggest purchase of their
lives. And finally, Congress needs to
confirm Mel Watt to be our nation’s top housing regulator, so that he can
protect consumers and help responsible lenders provide credit.
No program or policy will solve all the problems in a
multi-trillion dollar housing market, and it will take time to fully
recover. But if we work together, we can
make a home a source of pride and middle-class security again. And if Washington
is willing to set aside politics and focus on what really matters, we can
rebuild an economy where if you work hard, you can get ahead.
Thanks, and have a great weekend.