Federal Reserve Governor Jay Powell spoke on the need for comprehensive, bipartisan reform of the housing finance system before an audience at the American Enterprise Institute on July 6. While Mr. Powell’s remarks on housing finance focused on the system’s role in stabilizing the financial markets, he indicated that “affordable housing concerns are of course significant, and will have to be addressed as part of any reform legislation.”
The bipartisan 2014 Johnson-Crapo housing finance reform bill would have funded the national Housing Trust Fund, the Capital Magnet Fund, and a new Market Access Fund through a 10 basis-point assessment on all transactions handled by a new housing finance entity that would replace the government sponsored entities (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Legislators are discussing whether to include this provision, as well as maintain some form of the affordable housing goals that have been required of the GSEs, in new bipartisan legislation.
Mr. Powell’s remarks come at a time when legislators are showing renewed energy toward bipartisan housing finance reform. “There really does seem to be a bipartisan discussion on this,” Mr. Powell said. He emphasized that now is the time for reform, when the market is healthy and before the memory of the 2008 housing and financial crisis fades.
Watch a recording of the event at: http://bit.ly/2stGJu5
Learn more about the future of housing finance at: http://bit.ly/2syHxjr
Learn more about the national Housing Trust Fund at: http://nlihc.org/issues/nhtf