American Dream Slipping as Homeownership at 18-Year Low

The U.S. homeownership rate, which soared to a record high 69.2 percent in 2004, is back where it was two decades ago, before the housing bubble inflated, busted and ripped more than 7 million Americans from their homes.

With ownership at 65 percent and home values rising, housing industry and consumer groups are pressing lawmakers to make the American Dream more inclusive by ensuring new mortgage standards designed to prevent another crash are flexible enough that more families can benefit from the recovery. Regulators are close to proposing a softened version of a rule requiring banks to keep a stake in risky mortgages they securitize, according to five people familiar with the discussions.

Lawmakers currently shaping housing finance are seeking to reduce the government’s role in keeping rates affordable for riskier borrowers while ensuring homeownership is within reach of minorities and first-time buyers who could be needed to sustain the housing recovery as borrowing costs rise from record lows. Who will be able to buy property depends on the balance they reach, according to Anthony Sanders, a professor of real estate finance at George Mason University in Fairfax Virginia. Read more >>

Study: New Yorkers Enjoy Less Freedom Than Residents In Any Other State In U.S.

New York may be first in taxes, but a survey has ranked it dead last in one important characteristic: freedom. That’s the verdict from one conservative think tank, CBS 2’s Lou Young reported.

Young visited the Byram River on Friday. It is one of the many borders that separate New York and Connecticut. A new study says the New York side of that river is part of the least free place in America; seriously.

“I think it depends on what criteria you’re using, you know? You talking about taxes? You talking about civil rights?” Ridgefield, Conn., resident Jane Davila said.

The study in question is talking mostly about taxes and business regulation. The libertarian think tank at George Mason University in Virginia says New York is dead last in freedom. Most people seem to think that’s a stretch, but many said they see the point. Read more >>

U6 unemployment, the more relevant measure is 14.7%.

President Obama is speaking at George Mason University today (traffic is insane!). He has a long awaited jobs one-liner: the U3 unemployment rate fell to 7.8%. He probably won’t mention that U6 unemployment, the more indicative measure of true unemployment, remained at 14.7%. This is due to a large increase in the number of workers working part time for economic reasons. The number of part-time workers rose by 582,000 according to the Household Survey.

Change in nonfarm payrolls rose by 114,000, according to the Establishment Survey. Hardly comforting given the 12,088,000 unemployed. And remember that the survey of households uncovered an additional 800,000+ jobs last month, 187,000 of which were government workers. [This reminds me of the miraculous appearance of boxes of ballots during a close election].

The number of non-institutional population going on disability has increased dramatically, as has the number of households on the SNAP (food stamp) program. In fact, the number of people going on disability since July 2010 has been larger than the decline in unemployment by near a quarter of a million! Read more >>