The National Association of Home Builders told Congress it will work with lawmakers to make changes to the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners (PATH) Act to ensure it provides the federal support necessary to maintain a strong and liquid housing finance system.
"NAHB believes federal support is particularly important to ensure that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, the bedrock of the nation's housing finance system since the 1930s, remain available at reasonable interest rates and terms," said NAHB CEO Jerry Howard in a statement. "As currently drafted, the PATH Act does not provide the federal support necessary to ensure a strong and liquid housing finance system … The historical record clearly shows that the private sector is not capable of providing a consistent and adequate supply of housing credit without a federal backstop."
NAHB recommends Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be gradually phased into a private-sector-oriented system, where federal support would be limited to catastrophic situations after private capital and insurance run out.
