Barack Obama on Real Estate Issues

NAR’s REALTOR Magazine ran this interview with President-elect Barack Obama on its web site today.

This fall, when the presidential campaign was in full force, Obama responded to the magazine's pressing questions about the mortgage crisis, sustainable development, housing affordability and other topics. Here's what he said:…

Even though prices have been easing for the last two years, housing affordability remains a challenge for many people. What can the federal government do to improve this situation?

Obama: I’ve proposed a universal mortgage interest tax credit for families that aren’t benefiting from the mortgage interest deduction. They would get an average credit of $500 a year. And I worked to pass the bipartisan homeownership tax credit. That’s a strong incentive because it gives developers a credit to bridge the gap between the cost of building a house and a sale price that’s affordable to low- and moderate-income households.

See the rest of the interview here.