White House officials estimated that the proposal, which requires congressional approval, would cost taxpayers between $5 billion and $10 billion. To offset that cost, Obama reprised his previous idea of imposing a new tax on the profits of financial firms. Republicans pledged to oppose the proposal.
To help the economy get more of a boost from low interest rates, Obama proposed that almost anyone who has a credit score above 580 and has been paying his or her monthly mortgage bill on time for the past six months be able to refinance. It wouldn’t matter under Obama’s proposal whether borrowers had government-backed mortgages or loans owned by banks and other private investors.
The only major limitation to the program would be on borrowers who own very expensive properties, relative to where they live. The maximums range from $271,050 to $729,750. A new program run by the Federal Housing Administration would be set up to refinance mortgages that are not backed by federal mortgage giants Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
The proposals are the latest in a long list of programs Obama has unveiled to address the problems facing homeowners. Almost all of the programs have fallen far short of their goals. Obama has acknowledged that his response to the housing crisis has not worked as well as he had hoped it would, and most economists say that the depressed housing market is one of the biggest drags on the economic recovery.
Still, Obama’s continuing push to provide aid to homeowners and boost housing prices draws a stark contrast with Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, who has advocated a hands-off approach to the nation’s foreclosure epidemic. Obama, in his remarks, pointed to areas hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, including Las Vegas in the political battleground state of Nevada, where the next Republican presidential caucuses will take place.
“It will take more time than any of us would like for the housing market to recover from this crisis,” Obama said Wednesday at the James Lee Community Center in Falls Church. “But it is wrong for anybody to suggest that the only option for struggling, responsible homeowners is to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom.”
On Tuesday, new data from Standard & Poor’s showed that housing prices have fallen to levels not seen since 2003.
Republicans on Capitol Hill gave the president’s proposal a chilly reception.
“We have done this at least four times, where there is some government program to help homeowners who had trouble with their mortgages,” House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said. “None of these programs have worked and I don’t know why anyone would think this next idea would work.”
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