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Ah, the good old days for housing
Conservative lawmakers are unhappy with much of the housing reform and rescue legislation that Congress likely will pass next week. They say it gives government too big a role in the housing market.
At a hearing Tuesday, Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., said the legislation amounted to “socialism.” He and other conservatives argue that the country should go back to a simpler time when Congress stayed out of the housing market.
On Thursday, a Commerce Department report on June housing starts suggested the country already is starting to relive those simpler days, at least in some ways. Housing starts are now on track to fall below the 1 million level this year for the first time since 1945, when the country was still fighting World War II.
“Even banks with solid balance sheets are reluctant to finance any project related to housing,” said Patrick Newport, an economist with the Global Insight Inc. forecasting firm.
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