With real estate prices experiencing a bit of a pull back in many markets and topped out in others we see that so many people may not be able to buy homes based on their current wages and rising interest rates. Even more alarming is that many who had bought homes at or near the top of the market with variable loans may find their interest rates increasing their monthly mortgage payments and therefore are in jeopardy of losing their homes due to foreclosures. Accelerating affordable housing projects makes sense and now with many builders slowing down and not investing in new housing tracts it makes sense to streamline regulations and make it more enticing for them to build affordable housing and work on downtown renewal projects. Unfortunately the blob of bureaucracy is curtailing such things and we find that there are so many barriers to entry in even building a simple project that many builders from the recent housing boom are simply saying thank you and retiring. No sense in battling city planning commissions, building permits and lawyers to help the common good by building affordable housing. We need to take a good hard look as to what we are doing in America as we stick it to our entrepreneurial building companies and find ways to help them help all of us and our civilization to better and more affordable housing. Consider all this in 2006. |
