Story of the Week

Public Housing To Take Hard Hit
   Public housing authorities are hunkering down in light of the financial sequestration that will take about 5.2% of FY 2013 housing assistance to help pay off the national debt. PHAs are already reeling from earlier cuts and uncertainty over what will be the final numbers in the second FY 2013 continuing resolution that will substitute as an
posted 3/1/13 10:49 AM  read complete story

HUD Preps For Sequester
   HUD officials are putting the finishing touches on the department’s plan to weather the coming sequester and sources tell HAL that the status of employee furloughs will be outlined in a nationwide broadcast to HUD offices Feb. 27.
posted 2/22/13 09:45 AM  read complete story

Obama Says Homeowner Aid Crucial
   President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address pressed Congress to expand help for troubled homeowners in order to to keep the momentum of the housing market on course. Obama wants to allow responsible homeowners to refinance their loans at existing low interest rates, and says doing so will boost housing and the broader economic
posted 2/14/13 08:52 AM  read complete story

Scramble To Undo Budget Cut Plan
   There could be as much as a month’s delay in the administration’s timetable to produce a budget plan for FY 2014, sources tell HAL. We are told the delay past the Feb. 4 deadline for submission -- the fifth delay in as many years -- results from White House trepidation over the pending sequestration of federal spending
posted 2/5/13 6:13 PM  read complete story

HUD, Agencies In Sequester Turmoil
   Mixed signals about across-the-board cuts in all federal discretionary spending has housing and related programs scrambling to revise spending targets to accommodate what likely will be reductions of 5.1%. The reduction is less than the 9% cut called for under the original mandate. Postponing the sequester from Jan. 2 to March 1 will result in a
posted 1/31/13 10:28 AM  read complete story

Cloud Stays Over 2012, 2013 Spending
   With congressional gridlock continuing and likely hardening in coming weeks, prospects for a FY 2013 budget diminish considerably. Lawmakers are bracing for a full-year continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown when the current stopgap spending law expires March 27.
posted 1/23/13 5:53 PM  read complete story

New Home Construction Soars
   New home construction increased in December to its fastest pace since June 2008, the eve of the housing market collapse, the Commerce Department says. While the growth was spread throughout the country, the largest gains were in the South and West.
posted 1/17/13 4:15 PM  read complete story

Banks Scramble To Grasp New Regs
   Mortgage lenders have one year to digest, protest, try to change, and finally embrace a set of new rules governing the mortgage lending process, The final rule unveiled by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau mandates banks to verify borrower ability to repay a mortgage by confirming income and assets.
posted 1/10/13 6:17 PM  read complete story

Tough Roadblocks Ahead For Housing
   While the housing market continues its resurgence, lack of significant progress towards reducing the federal budget deficit will likely continue weighing down the economy and casts a cloud over the entire housing industry. Outlook: The housing industry’s momentum will slow as political fights heighten over spending and the debt limit--but not enough to
posted 1/2/13 12:54 PM  read complete story

FHA Setback Sets In Among Bankers
   While Obama administration officials scramble to stem the bleeding from the Federal Housing Administration’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, the banking industry mulls how the fallout from a restructured FHA will affect the housing market.
posted 11/30/12 11:23 AM  read complete story