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The future of housing finance in the U.S. will be a key issue facing the winner of the upcoming presidential election. That's what a panel of industry experts told several thousand Realtors® gathered at a symposium, Housing Policy in 2013: Challenges, Opportunities and Solutions, during the REALTORS® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo this week. The National Association of Realtors® supports a comprehensive reform strategy for the secondary mortgage market to help maintain a level of certainty in the marketplace and not further disrupt the still fragile housing market recovery.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) hosted a White House Forum on Housing to discuss programs and initiatives promoted by the Obama Administration

Many REALTORS® are asking the questions - why is NAR having this rally? Are there specific bills or legislation we are trying to pass or defeat? What is the urgency? Congress addresses a myriad of real estate issues every year. What makes this year unique is that for the first time ever the American dream, as we know it, is under attack, NAR says. It is time to remind Congress that owning a home is an indispensable thread of the American fabric. REALTORS® need to protect homeownership in America for today and tomorrow. NAR notes that this is an election year, giving REALTORS® an excellent opportunity to present our critical issues to Congress before voters head to the polls in November.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently released the April edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard— a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market.

(MCT)—Hiring continued its slow pace in April as employers added a modest 115,000 jobs to their payrolls, providing more evidence that the economy has lost some momentum from early this year. The jobless rate inched down to 8.1 percent last month, the Labor Department said Friday, but that wasn’t because more people were employed. Rather, the rate fell as more workers dropped out of the labor force. The April jobs report was highly anticipated because job growth slowed sharply in March after three strong winter months of payroll gains averaging 252,000. Labor officials Friday revised job growth upward in March to 154,000 from 120,000 previously reported, but that didn’t change the overall picture:

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the February edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard—a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Data continues to show signs that the housing market is strengthening, although the recovery remains fragile. The supply of new and existing homes on the market continued to decline last month. However, home prices dipped again as seasonal lows continued for the fourth month in a row. The continued fragility of the housing market underscores the need for recently-announced expansions of assistance to help prevent foreclosures and strengthen hard hit communities. The full Housing Scorecard is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.

In the wake of U.S. District Court approval of a class action lawsuit settlement agreement, American Home Shield officials said they were pleased that the court confirmed the compliancy

(MCT)—The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wants to shrink the seized housing-finance giants gradually and create a new market for mortgage-backed securities to help the private sector. The recommendations came in a new strategic plan for Fannie and Freddie submitted to lawmakers Tuesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has overseen the companies since they were put into government conservatorship in 2008 to avoid their failure. Fannie and Freddie have almost single-handedly kept the housing finance market afloat in recent years.

Recently, as lawmakers continue to debate infrastructure bills, a new report released by the Center for American Progress proposes a plan to enable significant progress in bringing America's infrastructure up to par.

Last Wednesday, February 1, President Obama announced the details of a plan to help homeowners refinance their mortgages in hopes of bolstering the housing market. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, this proposal will allow buyers to save an average of $3,000 a year by refinancing into loans backed by the FHA, if they are current on their mortgage. The plan is estimated to cost between $5 billion and $10 billion, which Obama plans to cover by pressing a fee on large banks.

(MCT)—Many consumers applying for a mortgage are going to start sharing more personal information with lenders next year, like it or not. FICO scores, the industry standard for determining credit risk in mortgages backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration, largely have been based on a person’s credit history. But in an attempt to develop a more well-rounded picture of a person’s finances beyond credit, tools are being developed to help the lending industry dig deeper.

There is the possibility that without Congressional action, two programs of vital importance to the real estate business will sunset on September 30, 2011. The end of the current extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the lowering of FHA and

This week’s headlines from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS? include: Facebook case study; send up to five documents a month free with REALTOR Benefits® Program Partner, DocuSign®,;and register for a free safety webinar on social media and cyber safety. For more information visit www.REALTOR.org. ...

RISMEDIA, April 12, 2011—The Power Broker Roundtable is brought to you by the National Association of REALTORS® and Charlie Oppler, NAR’s Special Liaison for Large Firm Relations. Watch for this column each month, where we address broker issues, concerns and milestones.

RISMEDIA, April 12, 2011—The apartment industry made a surprising recovery in 2010 from the "Great Recession," and that recovery is reflected in the 2011 NMHC 50, the National Multi Housing Council's annual ranking of the 50 largest apartment owners and 50 largest managers. The NMHC 50 helps document the apartment industry's evolution over time and helps identify trends within the sector and up-and-coming new players.