Fed Officials Call for More Housing Help
Federal Reserve officials attending a Fed conference reviewed the housing crisis and called for more programs to address broader issues.
Eric Rosengren, president of the Fed's Bank of Boston, said he is in favor of a more "holistic" approach.
"My own view is that too little focus has been on community problems because the focus has been more targeted to housing and foreclosures," Rosengren said. "Rather than treating the symptom — the high REO problem — we need to better understand how to resolve the more general problems in communities that lead to higher concentrations of REOs and exacerbate the effects of high REOs."
REO, or Real Estate Owned, is property that failed to sell at a foreclosure auction and is now owned by a bank.
Sandra Pianalto, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, told attendees of the conference that the Fed feels a "great sense of urgency" to get housing back on its feet.
"A healthy housing sector is critical both to the overall economy and to a sustainable economic recovery," Pianalto said.
Source: Reuters News (09/02/2010)/Realtor.com
