The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the July edition of the Obama administration’s housing scorecard — a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. The latest data show progress across many key indicators — as home prices, purchases of new homes, and sales of existing homes continue to show strong annual gains — although officials caution that the overall recovery remains fragile. The full housing scorecard is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.
“As the July housing scorecard indicates, the Obama administration’s efforts to speed housing recovery are continuing to build upon the progress that has been made over the last four years,” said HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs Kurt Usowski. “The annual home price increases over the last several months remain at levels not seen since 2006 and newly initiated foreclosures are at their lowest level since December 2005. As we regain stability in our housing markets, it is time to begin the process of reforming the housing finance system to reduce the federal government footprint and ensure that private capital takes a sustainable central role.”
“The administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has provided direct assistance to more than one million homeowners while creating standards that have helped millions more,” said Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad. “HAMP was designed so that assistance would go to those homeowners most in need and that the modifications provided would be sustainable. Clearly without HAMP, national foreclosure rates would have been much higher and many borrowers would not have received the assistance they needed.”
The July housing scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including:
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