November 20, 2008

As a Realtor® and owner of a nationwide relocation company, I am daily faced with the effects of the economic meltdown on our real estate members all over the country. Consumer confidence is at an all time low which is adding to the current housing crisis. Buyers who have stable jobs and good income are postponing purchasing a home due to fear.

We need action by lawmakers NOW - not in January. Hopefully the lame duck Congress will listen to reason, and pass some meaningful bills! Bills that will RESTORE CONSUMER CONFIDENCE so that homebuyers are not frozen by fear! Even in areas which have a strong economy (low unemployment, healthy job outlook, no real estate bubble bursting) buyers are holding off buying – waiting for a lower interest rate, or the assurance that they'll buy at the absolute bottom price. They are also frustrated with the current lending environment that places a variety of barriers to getting a mortgage. This further impedes sales and price stabilization of the housing market.

A recent consumer survey conducted by Realogy Corp. (a National Association of Realtors ® member) stated how important housing is to this country's economic recovery. The survey found that nine out of 10 homeowners believe that owning a home is still the best long-term investment. But this same survey said that most people are not buying right now because of uncertainty about the market.

Recently the National Association of Realtors® sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson outlining steps he could take to stabilize the housing market. They also presented this plan to the House Financial Services Committee on November 18th. The four steps the recommended are:

1) Make the $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit available to all homebuyers and eliminate the repayment requirement.
2) Make the increased 2008 FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac loan limits permanent so that all American families can find a safe and affordable mortgage when buying a home.
3) Get the $700 billion Treasury relief program back on track and focused on providing stability to the nation's housing markets and reducing foreclosures.
4) Bar banks from real estate brokerage and management activities permanently, to avoid exposing consumers and the economy to more unnecessary risks.

NAR also provided an economic analysis demonstrating that a reduction, or a buydown, of interest rates by just 1 percentage point could result in up to 840,000 additional home sales and reduce the inventory of homes by as much as 20 percent. Substantially lower mortgage rates would stimulate both existing- and new-home sales.

These are great first steps to getting home sales going again.

It was Richard Nixon who said, "A recession is anytime people lose confidence in the future." Now is the time to restore confidence, people!

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Local Information for Madison, WI

Latitude: 43.074613 -- Longitude: -89.394757

ZIP Codes for Madison, Wisconsin	53562 53593 53701 53702 53703 53704 53705 53706 53707 53708 53711 53713 53714 53715 53716 53717 53718 53719 53725 53726 53744 53774 53777 53778 53779 53782 53783 53784 53785 53786 53788 53789 53790 53791 53792 53793 53794
Area Code for Madison, Wisconsin	608
Time zone for Madison, Wisconsin	CST

Other Area Cities: Madison, WI Fitchburg, WI Middleton, WI Monona, WI Sun Prairie, WI

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Madison is the capital of Wisconsin, a state in the United States of America. It is the county seat of Dane County. Madison is also home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As of a 2005 census projection, Madison had a population of 221,551, making it the second largest city in Wisconsin, after Milwaukee, and the 85th largest in the United States. Counting the city's immediate suburbs, the area population exceeds 350,000. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Dane County and neighboring Iowa and Columbia counties, had a 2000 census population of 501,774, and is one of the fastest-growing in Wisconsin. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Wisconsin 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Madison	Wisconsin	United States
Population	208,054	5,363,675	281,421,906
Median age	30.6	36	35.3
Median age for Male	29.9	35	34
Median age for Female	31.5	37.1	36.5
Households	89,019	2,084,544	105,480,101
Household population	195,221	5,207,717	273,643,273
Average household size	2.19	2.5	2.59
Families	42,458	1,386,815	71,787,347
Average family size	2.87	3.05	3.14
Housing units	92,394	2,321,144	115,904,641
Occupied units	89,019	2,084,544	105,480,101
Vacant units	3,375	236,600	10,424,540

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November 20, 2008

Local Information for Madison, WI

Latitude: 43.074613 -- Longitude: -89.394757

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