The White House released a raft of evidence touting California’s housing recovery due to policies adopted since Obama took office in 2009, including:
• As of May, 369,000 homeowners had refinanced their mortgages at lower rates through a program aimed at preventing foreclosures.
• As of June, 294,000 homeowners had modified or were modifying the terms of their home loans under a related program.
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development has given more than $1 billion to 98 state and local agencies to buy up foreclosed and abandoned properties and redevelop those areas.
Donovan urged Congress to pass immigration-reform legislation, which is stuck in the House, and act on proposals Obama outlined in Phoenix earlier this month to simplify the refinancing process, make it easier for people to obtain mortgages and wind down taxpayer financing for quasi-public mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“The housing market is bouncing back,” Donovan said. “More needs to be done to keep the momentum going.”
Read the full report here.
