The recent collapse of the housing market had many causes, including subprime mortgages, lax lending standards, and land use regulations. States with the worst land use regulations have been most affected, which is why any effort to revive housing markets must begin with land deregulation.
Issues 2012 provides candidates for elected office the ability to quickly identify the key issues of the day and present clear policy recommendations, supported by facts, for addressing them. Read More.
Areas with less land-use regulation consistently sustain housing prices that are affordable, while regions with greater regulations consistently sustain prices that are unaffordable to the majority of the citizens living in the region. Future federal housing-assistance programs should be linked to a requirement to lessen the burden of these regulations. Read More.
President Barack Obama’s partnership between the Department of Transportation and Department of Housing and Urban Development reflects an escalation in his apparent intent to re-energize and lead the Left’s longstanding war against America’s suburbs. Read More.
Executive Summary Between 2003 and 2006, home prices rose dramatically, but then they fell abruptly in 2007 and thereafter. While many believe that the main cause of the boom was easy access to credit in the…
FYI: Heritage WebMemos are now called Issue Briefs. One of the troublesome aspects of President Obama’s State of the Union speech was that the much-hyped housing section was little more than a slightly revised…
Abstract: The great and calamitous fiscal trends of our time—dependence on government by an increasing portion of the American population, and soaring debt that threatens the financial integrity of the economy—worsened yet again in 2010 and 2011. The United States has long reached the…
President Obama’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is beginning to insidiously intrude in local housing policies in a concerted effort to require racial and economic integration in American communities. It started in 2009, when HUD began using a settlement between the county of Westchester in New York and…
Abstract: Agenda 21, a voluntary plan adopted at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, unabashedly calls on governments to intervene and regulate nearly every potential impact that human activity could have on the environment. However,…
Congress passed a combined spending proposal (H.R. 2112) that includes an increase in the limits on mortgages held by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), though Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are left untouched. A forthcoming study by The Heritage Foundation demonstrates how federal intervention in the…
In one spectacularly misguided move, a House–Senate conference committee has taken a step that will expand the federal presence in the housing markets, preserve Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and damage the near-bankrupt Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in the name of helping the housing sector to recover. One small provision…
Lachlan Markay discusses compensation for Fannie and Freddie CEOs. …
When you're in trouble, nothing beats a helping hand — provided you can reach it. Certain homeowners with "underwater" mortgages are about to find that out. Say you're a homeowner with such a mortgage. The value of your home has dropped over the last few…
Abstract: Congress enacted the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010 in the wake of a financial crisis followed by a serious economic recession. Regrettably, many of the provisions of the Dodd–Frank Act contravene basic American principles and inhibit rather than…
Abstract: The number of Americans who pay taxes continues to shrink—and the United States is close to the point at which half of the population will not pay taxes for government benefits…
President Barack Obama's early comments on his opposition to suburban sprawl and his intention to alter the way Americans live and travel took a step closer to reality when he created an interdepartmental initiative on housing and transportation costs.[1] A March press release issued by the U.S. Department…
Despite the many accolades for President Barack Obama's swift action on a major economic stimulus package, an outline of a comprehensive financial rescue package, and his most recent proposal for another bailout for homeowners who might not meet their mortgage payments, a growing number of critics and global investors have questioned the effectiveness of…
The collapse of the subprime mortgage market in late 2006 set in motion a chain reaction of economic and financial adversity that has spread to global financial markets, created depression-like conditions in the housing market, and pushed the U.S. economy to the brink of recession. In response, many in Congress and the executive branch have…
According to several reports, negotiators in the Senate may be on the verge of finalizing a compromise version of legislation that would give bankruptcy judges the power to modify home mortgages, a practice known as "cramdown" or "strip-down." This potential compromise, unlike the House's version of the legislation (H.R. 1102), would limit a judge's discretion…
Since early spring, President Barack Obama and his Secretaries of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development have endorsed and promised policies to encourage or require Americans to live in higher-density communities and rely more on public transportation instead of privately owned automobiles.[1] These first steps reflect…
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to implement stronger air pollution restrictions on ozone (smog) for the stated purpose of improving public health.[1] These regulations are misguided because they would impose significant costs for little or no benefit.[2] At the same time, policies being implemented at…
Abstract: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—the government-sponsored mortgage giants—must be shut down. Both entities distort the market by issuing mortgage-backed securities with subsidized government guarantees that the mortgages will be repaid. If such guarantees are necessary, they should be priced and issued by the…
Reflecting on his two terms in office, President George W. Bush said in 2010, "You realize you're not it. You're a part...…
It's one thing to talk a good game about cutting spending, but it's quite another thing to actually do something about...…
Recent press reports indicate that FEMA uses the status of Waffle House restaurants to gauge the severity of...…
Representative Michael Turner (R–OH), chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, recently...…
For the past several years, it's not been an uncommon sight in Anytown, USA, to drive down the street and see home...…
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has a long history of deception, promotion of Sharia law, anti-Semitism, and anti-Western...…
Buried deep in the President’s hyperbolic assault on the House-passed budget last week—with all that “radical vision”...…
Congressional investigators are probing a decision by the Federal Elections Commission to drop a case against a major...…
More than half of states have asked the U.S. Department of Education for a waiver from No Child Left Behind. Ten years...…
House Democrats described the budget they released yesterday as a “clear contrast” to the one introduced by House Budget...…
Senior Research Fellow in Retirement Security and Financial Institutions