Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen made some comments today to urge congress to move quickly on the FHA reform bills they are working on. Here is an excerpt from a report that the AP put out:
Paulson in the CNBC interview also called on Congress to quickly pass pending legislation that would reform the Federal Housing Administration, which he said would help 250,000 at-risk homeowners who have adjustable rate subprime mortgages refinance to more affordable loans and another piece of legislation that would expand the availability of so-called “jumbo” mortgages, loans higher than $417,000.
The two giant government-sponsored mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, cannot presently back these jumbo loans, which restricts their availability.
On Monday, Paulson had said in a speech in New York that the current housing correction was “inevitable and necessary” following five years of an unsustainable boom which saw sales and home prices hit record levels.