U.S. Homebuilders Applaud Fed Report on Tight Lending Standards

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The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is pleased with a recent finding by the Federal Reserve that excessively tight mortgage lending standards are hampering a housing and economic recovery.

"The Federal Reserve's report to Congress confirms what we have been saying for some time: That extraordinarily tight credit conditions are preventing creditworthy borrowers from obtaining home loans and this is harming the housing market and the broader economy," said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, Nev.

Nielsen added that the lack of credit extends to housing construction loans as well, which is crippling the housing industry and preventing construction of new homes in markets that need and want them. "In scores of markets across the country that are exhibiting signs of job growth and where the inventory of new homes is nearly exhausted, builders should be hiring workers to break ground on new housing developments," he said.

In its message to Congress, the Fed said that "restoring the health of the housing market is a necessary part of a broader strategy for economic recovery."

Housing can act as a job catalyst if regulators and lending institutions return to prudent underwriting standards that do not exclude creditworthy borrowers and if they move to restore the flow of credit to viable home building projects.

In normal times, housing accounts for more than 17 percent of the nation's economic output. Constructing 100 new homes creates more than 300 full-time jobs, $23.1 million in wage and business income and $8.9 million in federal, state and local tax revenue.

With cash-strapped municipalities across the land desperately searching for new revenue sources, home building can increase the property tax base that supports local schools and communities.

"Removing the obstacles limiting access to mortgage credit and enabling builders to obtain construction loans to build in markets where demand is firming is imperative to get housing back on track, to put our nation back to work and to keep the economy moving forward," said Nielsen.