Memo To The Fed: Please Stop Helping
A topic around some articles and comments recently. I posted this Thursday: “Since 2000, Alexandria has lost 90 percent of its affordable housing. There are now fewer than 2,000 affordable apartments.”
“According to new research by Harvard University, almost 40 million Americans cannot afford to pay for housing. Since most of the new units being built are at the high end, “the number of modestly priced units available for under $800 declined by 261,000 between 2005 and 2015, while the number renting for $2,000 or more jumped by 1.5 million.”
‘NBC News sums up the findings this way: “Over 38 million American households can’t afford their housing, an increase of 146 percent in the past 16 years.”
One replied, “Totally amazing numbers. Yet all of us hoping for an end to the madness (ie a recession) are the monsters. Total job losses due to 2001 + 2008 recessions: 2.2 million + 8.8 million = 11 million.”
“Total impoverished thanks to the boom (that 146% increase in people who can’t afford housing since 2000): 22 million.”
Yesterday a reader posted this, “JULY 13, 2017. U.S. Fed buys $5.7 billion of mortgage bonds, sells none”
“The Federal Reserve bought $5.656 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities in the week from Jul. 6 to Jul. 12, compared with $3.683 billion purchased the previous week, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said on Thursday.”
“In a move to help the housing market begun in October 2011, the U.S. central bank has been using funds from principal payments on the agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, or MBS, it holds to reinvest in agency MBS.”
“The New York Fed said on its website the Fed sold no mortgage securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Government National Mortgage Association, or Ginnie Mae, in the latest week. It sold none the prior week.”
Another reader replied with some quotes from this article, my post and a comment. “In a move to help the housing market begun in October 2011…”
“Five years ago, you could snatch up a median-priced condo in Orange and Los Angeles counties for about $280,000, 76 percent less than today’s prices.”
‘Mission f%^#ing accomplished. Memo to the Fed: please stop helping.’
