The trade group for real estate agents spent more than $3.7 million lobbying the federal government in the second quarter as it pressed for measures to aid the hobbled housing market.
The Chicago-based National Association of Realtors, a major lobbying player on Capitol Hill, pushed hard for the housing bill signed by President Bush last month, [...]

The best part of the housing bill signed by President Bush on July 30 was the section that establishes new regulations for mortgage loan originators. The regulations require all mortgage originators to be screened, educated, tested and licensed. The law also created a national registry of loan originators. And it won’t cost the taxpayers a [...]

Builder confidence in the market for condominiums continued to fall in the second quarter of 2008, according to the Multifamily Condo Market Index (MCMI), released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The latest decline pushed two of the three components of the MCMI to their lowest levels since NAHB created the index [...]

The President signed the bill on July 30, 2008. The bill includes the following provisions:

GSE Reform - including a strong independent regulator, and permanent conforming loan limits up to the greater of $417,000 or 115% local area median home price, capped at $625,500. The effective date for reforms is immediate upon enactment, but the loan [...]