Foreclosures were the issue in the limelight at Orlando, which hosted the annual conference of Realtors. 20,000 of them converged from around the country. The conference was aimed at addressing the foreclosure crisis hitting the housing industry. The theme of the conference was “Full Speed Ahead” – a theme that belies reality.
Realtors are facing tough times. Home sales are sluggish, there is a credit squeeze, banks are failing, jobs are being culled, there have been a record number of foreclosed reo homes . According to many, USA is facing its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
According to Lyle Nelsen, a real-estate broker associated with Rebman Properties Inc. based in Winter Park, the only positive thing that is happening is that oil and gas prices are coming down. Rebman’s area of focus is industrial properties like warehouses. But construction of warehouses, as well as their lease and sales, depends on retail growth which in turn is dependent on residential construction and sales. The whole structure is based on access to credit that is almost frozen. This interconnection is emphasized by Roger Rebman, who rues that the nature of the inter-relationship is not appreciated by most people.
The Realtors who met in the Convention in Orange County have been urged by the National Association of Realtors, to try through their lawyers to put pressure on the Congress and direct Congress to channel the $700 billion bailout package directly towards housing since housing is the point where the economic crisis originated. The President of NAR, Richard F. Gaylord accused the Treasury Department of focusing too much on Wall Street and the banks in the bailout attempt instead of trying to stabilize the mortgage and housing markets. Wall Street and the banks, according to Gaylord, are using the money for mergers and acquisitions. Only redirecting the rescue package directly to housing and mortgages will help families avoid foreclosure.
A Realtor in Windermere, John Lazenby commented that the key to recovery lies in finding better ways to stem the current foreclosure rate. He calls for a trickle-up – helping homeowners avoid foreclosure – instead of the conventional trickle-down approach. According to Gaylord, the current backlog of unsold homes is a 10-month supply. This can be reduced to a 6.5 – month supply if the mortgage-backed securities market can be stabilized, interest rates lowered by at least one percentage point and tax-credit incentives be provided for home buyers. Gaylord said that, “there can be no economic recovery without a stabilized housing market”.
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