Whither the American Dream?

[marmar]

from In These Times:


Whither the American Dream?
In the wake of the foreclosure crisis, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has moved to make homeownership harder for ordinary Americans.

BY MITRIA WILSON


Hollywood celebrity and actress Katie Holmes recently bought a $3.8 million home in Calabasas, California (near the famous Kardashian family) for her and her daughter, Suri. Actor Vince Vaughn last week closed on a $2.4 million home in Los Angeles with a lap pool.

Are celebrities the only Americans who should be able to afford a dream home? The federal government seems to think so.

In the wake of the foreclosure crisis, the federal government stepped in to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and prevent a broader housing-market collapse. It is clear that the mortgage giants made some mistakes in the foreclosure crisis, including underestimating their amount of risk from defaults. But neither they nor consumers were the primary cause of the 2008 financial crisis: The blame for that belongs to financial institutions that made predatory lending their primary business model.

Nevertheless, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has forced Fannie and Freddie to adopt a series of policies, price hikes and additional fees that will make it much harder for the average American to buy a house. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://inthesetimes.com/article/17154/whither_the_american_dream

[PasadenaTrudy]

1. Depends on your dream

I have never wanted to be a home owner (loan owner). But, 1,000 sq. ft. would be quite enough for me.

[jwirr]

2. When you drive through many small towns there is still a group of homes that are very modest in

size. These homes often were the home of big families where upwards to 8 children were raised. Now we have huge houses.