August 31, 2011 6:58 AM EDT
The Obama administration is considering unveiling new plans next week to revive the ailing housing market and reduce foreclosures, including an effort to help troubled borrowers refinance their mortgages.
The administration has been working for weeks on how to implement a mortgage relief program. President Barack Obama could include a nod to the plan in a speech on job creation next week, sources familiar with the administration's plans said.
The refinancing initiative would allow certain borrowers to refinance loans that are backed by government-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or the Federal Housing Administration, the sources said.
A broad-based effort to automatically refinance millions of mortgages is not in the works, yet the administration is looking to take targeted changes to an existing program that would allow more borrowers to take advantage of low mortgage rates, including allowing borrowers to refinance even if they owe a significant amount above their property's current value.
The idea is to help struggling borrowers refinance at current low interest rates, which would cut their monthly payments and free up cash for other spending. The hope is that this could drum up overall business activity.
Follow us
The average rate on a 30-year fixed loan was 4.22 percent last week, close to the lowest level in more than 50 years, according to Freddie Mac
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA, which together account for 90 percent of the U.S. residential mortgage market, would be given permission to begin refinancing plans for borrowers that are current on their mortgage payments and not considered seriously delinquent, according to the sources.
While the administration is under pressure to firm up the details, it is not yet clear whether borrowers seeking to take out a loan that is more than 80 percent of the value of the home would qualify for refinancing. The White House has kept the specifics of the refinancing plan closely guarded as it attempts to work out the details.
White House officials had long been wary of trying aggressive new programs to revive the housing market. The prevailing view at the White House over much of the last two years was that any remedies would cause at least as many problems as they solved.
A mainstay of the administration's housing initiative, rolled out in April 2009, has fallen short of expectations. Known as the Home Affordable Refinance Program, it was originally intended to help 4 million to 5 million homeowners avoid foreclosure. As of May it had helped only about 810,000 homeowners refinance into loans with lower rates, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
But Democrats close to the White House said the weakness in the economy and the drop in mortgage rates have led officials to take a second look at ideas that could bolster the housing market and ease the strain on household budgets.
Analysts who favor action say housing is at the heart of the economy's woes and that its moribund state is creating a risk of a Japanese-style "lost decade" of economic stagnation.
"We can either spend the better part of a decade allowing households to gradually work off their debt burden," said William Galston, a scholar at the Brookings Institution think tank. "Option number two is that we try to jump-start the process."
"I think it's time to go back to the drawing board," he added.
CHICKEN OR THE EGG
Are Record-Low Mortgage Rates Hurting The US Housing Market?
Airbus Smells Good Business In Wider Plane Seats For Bigger Americans
French, Germany Consumer Confidence Holding Up -- A Dangerous Sign of Euro Zone Crisis Fatigue?
US Stocks - Time To 'Sell In May And Go Away'?
Investors Love Rio: Why Foreign Companies Are Buying Into Brazil's Real EconomyWe value your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.
