The Housing Bill
The Graph of the Week comes from the August 2008 NABE Policy Survey, and asks the survey panel their opinion of the housing bill which was enacted in late July, in a series of questions that examined whether the bill would help the economy, and whether certain segments were helped.
NABE members expressed a rather dim view of the July 2008 housing bill that provides up to $300 billion to refinance distressed mortgage borrowers with government-backed loans. Large majorities consider the bill a bailout of borrowers (78%) and/or lenders (65%), while 71% consider it “unfair” to non-mortgage-borrowers. While a majority (59%) agrees the bill will help reduce the number of mortgage foreclosures, only 34% feel it will help hasten the housing recovery, and only 31% say that it will help to stabilize U.S. home prices.
The entire survey is available to the public.