Experts Agree That The Housing Bill Should Help The Economy

This article was taken from Utah.Business. I thought the article gave added insight into what others are thinking about the bill. It seems to be mostly positive.

President Bush signed a massive housing bill last week, a measure considered to be one of the most significant housing legislation acts in decades. H.R. 3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, promises to help thousands of struggling homeowners and stabilize the financial market.

But how will this new housing law affect Utah homeowners and businesses? The Salt Lake City Chamber thinks the bill will be the boost Utah’s economy needs. “As a business community, [Salt Lake Chamber members] feel it will have some very positive impacts,” said Chris Redgrave, vice president and general manager of Bonneville Salt Lake Radio and chair of the Salt Lake Chamber’s Board of Governors. “Not only for the nation, but for local home owners, potential home owners and Utah businesses.”

One of the bill’s key provisions gives first time homebuyers a $7,500 dollar-for-dollar tax credit. This, according to Redgrave, is the incentive that Utah’s hesitant homebuyers have been waiting for. “The tax credit provided will give incentives for qualified buyers to enter the market. The increase in buyers will put an increase in demand of homes,” she said, adding that the incentive couldn’t come at a better time for first time buyers. “This is a great time to buy because the interest rate is still really good at around 6 percent and there’s a large selection of homes in the market. It doesn’t take much to get the ball rolling and the federal government has done its part. Now it’s up to the savvy Utah consumers to take advantage of this benefit.”

Chris Gamvroulas, Salt Lake Chamber Board of Governors member and president of Ivory Development said that the bill will boost many other industries beyond the housing sector. “We suspect that this will stimulate not just the home buying, but many other sectors of our economy, like manufacturing, service and the labor pool. This will be a tremendous help.”

The bill also permanently increases the FHA loan limit from $417,000 to $625,500 effective January 1, 2009. Chris Sloan, president elect of the Utah Association of Realtors, said that by increasing the FHA loan limit, more people will be able to move into their dream homes. “One of the biggest reasons we had the slow down is because of the difficulty for people to obtain mortgage funds. This will make an avenue available for people who need affordable, stable mortgage financing,” he said. “It also allows people in the starter home to get affordable and stable financing to move up into those more expensive homes,” said Sloan.

Sloan added that it will also help homeowners who are facing foreclosure, “by allowing them to refinance to a stable, affordable FHA mortgage,” he said, adding that the bill is likely to prevent Utah from experiencing the high foreclosure rates that the rest of the nation is facing. “This bill will help thousands of Utah families achieve the American dream of home ownership,” said Sloan.