Landmark Housing Bill Awaits Signature of President Bush

Culminating months of intensive advocacy efforts by the entire NAHB federation, the Senate has approved a major housing stimulus package that will go to the President’s desk to be signed into law shortly.

“This landmark bill contains several provisions to help home buyers, stop the slide in home prices, provide a lifeline to borrowers facing foreclosure, improve mortgage liquidity and bolster confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said NAHB President Sandy Dunn. “We commend Congress for working in a bipartisan fashion to provide much-needed relief to the American people.”

For the past year, NAHB has been in the forefront in pushing for legislation to address the turmoil in the financial and housing markets and to bolster the nation’s faltering economy.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), a chief architect of the bill, calls it “the most important piece of housing legislation in a generation.”

Echoing those comments, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that the bill “represents the most far-reaching reform of our nation’s housing finance system in a generation.” ...

Builders Can Use New Tax Credit to Help Spur Home Sales

Prospective first-time home buyers who have been sitting on the fence now have a significant financial incentive to explore the opportunities available in today’s housing market.

H.R. 3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 — which has just been passed by the Congress and now is on its way to President Bush for his signature — allows first-time home buyers to take a $7,500 tax credit from the purchase of a single-family home, townhome or condominium apartment.

To get the word out to the home-buying public, NAHB has assembled materials that will help association members maximize the impact of this temporary sales incentive. ...