NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. Photo by Morris Semiatin

Housing Stimulus Needed as Downside Risks Pile Up

Congress should consider providing further “sorely needed” economic stimulus to encourage homeownership and limit foreclosures in order to pull the U.S. economy out of recession, NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders said at the association’s Fall Construction Forecast Conference in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 22.

The steep decline in sales of new single-family homes should be coming to an end in early 2009, Seiders said, setting the stage for “tepid” improvement in new residential construction later that year. However, he warned, that outcome has grown increasingly uncertain in light of the turmoil that has gripped world financial markets. ...

Moran and Harris

Economists Upbeat About U.S. Financial Rescue Efforts

The economy of the U.S. has tumbled into a serious recession, with the world economy close on its heels, but the financial institution rescue efforts of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve should help bring the downturn to an end around the second half of next year, according to economists participating in NAHB’s Fall Construction Forecast Conference on Oct. 22 at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C.

Maury Harris, U.S. chief economist for UBS, noted that the U.S. government, intent on not repeating the mistakes that led to the Great Depression, is pursuing a range of policies just getting underway that will gradually get credit flowing again to businesses and consumers. ...

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