NBN Online for the week of September 8, 2008

NAHB to Look at Restoring Home Finance System Health

The nation’s home builders have expressed hope that the government’s action to place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship will help to increase liquidity for home financing and restore confidence in the global financial markets.

In a statement issued shortly after the Treasury Department announced on Sunday, Sept. 7 that it was taking over the two mortgage industry giants, NAHB Executive Vice President and CEO Jerry Howard said: “At this critical turning point, it is essential that government regulators and all parties involved in the nation’s housing finance system work together to rebuild the nation’s secondary mortgage market — a move that is absolutely vital to provide affordable mortgages for America’s home buyers and to help spur an economic recovery.

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Builders Ask for Energy Code Changes to Be Cost-Effective

As NAHB members prepare for the International Code Council’s final hearings in Minneapolis later this month, builders are leading opposition to the so-called “30% solution,” a package of energy code changes promoted by a coalition of advocates, including window and insulation manufacturers.

“We believe in energy efficiency, and we are concerned about the effects of climate change and the consequences of our continuing reliance on fossil fuels and what that means for the country we leave our children and grandchildren,” said NAHB President Sandy Dunn.