U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood today announced a new partnership to help American families gain better access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs. The average working American family spends nearly 60 percent of its budget on… Continue reading »
May
12
Capturing the Value of Transit
With stimulus funding creating new transit projects across the country, now may be a great time to use innovative methods for funding development around transit, say Nadine Fogarty and Gloria Ohland of the Center for Transit-Oriented Development. Portland and Denver are just two communities that have seen property values rise around rail. Read Full Story… Continue reading »
Jan
15
US foreclosures spike 81 pct in 2008
US home foreclosures, the epicenter of the global financial crisis, spiked 81 percent in 2008 despite efforts to slow the “tsunami,” a data tracking firm said Thursday. National foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — totaled 3.16 million and were reported on 2.33 million properties last year, said RealtyTrac, an… Continue reading »
Jan
08
Paulson Sees Changes for Freddie and Fannie
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said on Wednesday that allowing the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to return to their old operating ways was not an option. Congress and the next administration must decide the proper role government should play in supporting home ownership in light of the severe economic costs… Continue reading »
Jan
08
For Pittsburgh, There’s Life After Steel
This is what life in one American city looks like after an industrial collapse:Unemployment is 5.5 percent, far below the national average. While housing prices sank nearly everywhere in the last year, they rose here. Wages are also up. Foreclosures are comparatively uncommon. A generation ago, the steel industry that built Pittsburgh and still dominated… Continue reading »
Jan
06
Reconsidering U.S. Housing Policy: Remedies According to NCRC COO
In a recent interview with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta on the future of the housing market, National Community Reinvestment Coalition Chief Operating Officer Jim Carr responded to questions about which housing policies would best meet the challenges presented by the foreclosure crisis. The following excerpts discuss measures to address the destabilization of housing… Continue reading »
Jan
06
Comptroller of the Currency Defends CRA
Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan said he categorically disagrees with suggestions that the Community Reinvestment Act is partly responsible for the ongoing credit crisis. “CRA is not the culprit behind the subprime mortgage lending abuses, or the broader credit quality issues in the marketplace,” Mr. Dugan said in a speech to the Enterprise Annual… Continue reading »
Jan
05
The housing crisis: Western Pennsylvania is not immune
Even in this time of economic and financial chaos, there seems to have emerged a bit of conventional wisdom here in southwestern Pennsylvania that the regional housing market isn’t so bad. After all, the number of foreclosures here has dropped for two consecutive months and 2008 looks about on pace with 2007. There are plenty… Continue reading »
Jan
05
PNC, National City shareholders approve acquisition
On December 23, shareholders of PNC Financial Services Group approved the blockbuster acquisition of hobbled Cleveland-based National City Corp., a deal that would catapult Pittsburgh-based PNC to the nation’s fifth largest bank with deposits of $180 billion. National City shareholders meeting in Cleveland also approved the takeover this morning. The votes, coming two months after… Continue reading »
Jan
05
PNC races to wrap up National City takeover
PNC Financial Services’ shotgun courtship of National City Corp. is expected to be consummated on Tuesday, December 23, with a shareholder vote that stands to reconfigure the region’s financial landscape, turning what is already Pittsburgh’s dominant bank into the fifth-largest deposit holder in the country. Approval by the two banks’ shareholders is the final major… Continue reading »