President Barack Obama speaking at Fort Hood, photo by the U.S. Army.
A “high priority”
This week, a White House aide has said that addressing the struggling housing market is a “high priority” for the President but would not confirm whether or not the topic would be broached in Obama’s job speech set for Thursday before a joint session of Congress.
“There is no question that there are far too many working families who are concerned about the challenge of affording their mortgage payment every month,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters accompanying Obama to Detroit for a Labor Day holiday speech.
Responding to whether or not housing will be addressed in Obama’s upcoming speech, Earnest’s only response was repeatedly, “it’s something that’s a high priority for this administration.”
According to Retuers.com, sources they are close to in the White House say the administration is considering an initiative that would simplify mortgage refinance so “struggling homeowners” can take advantage of the historically low interest rates and that this is likely what will be mentioned in his speech on Thursday.
New Jersey Realtor, Robert Stern at Weicheart Realtors told AGBeat, “housing is the key to the economy” and notes that when one person buys a home it leads to an average of $30,000 spent on moving costs and improvements which goes back into the economy.
Broker Roberta Murphy of San Diego Previews Real Estate had an optimistic wishlist of what she wishes the President would address, closing by noting that by improving employment, “housing numbers will follow!”
