Home builders praise minority homeowners intitiative

The Bush administration's initiative to increase homeownership rates among minority families will bring tangible economic and social benefits, the National Association of Home Builders said Oct. 15 in reaction to the White House Conference on Minority Homeownership.

"President Bush has recognized a serious problem, brought the stakeholders together and said, We're going to do whatever it takes to give all minority families the opportunity to own a home,' " said NAHB President Gary Garczynski, a builder/developer from Woodbridge, Va.

"To the extent that all of us can work together to remove barriers to minority homeownership, we will see a very real boost to the economy and to the strength of our communities."

Bush reiterated his commitment to minority homeownership during a White House conference conducted on the campus of George Washington University. Underscoring the positive change that is attainable, Bush unveiled a major study by the Department of Housing and Urban Development outlining the potential social and economic benefits of an increase in minority homeownership.

During the conference, HUD Secretary Mel Martinez outlined a series of action steps in a document called "The Blueprint for the American Dream." Martinez also led a series of morning workshops that addressed key aspects of the minority homeownership challenge.

"The Blueprint for the American Dream' that we unveiled today is the response to the homeownership challenge' President Bush issued in June to increase minority homeownership," Martinez said. "Our partners, representing every segment of the affordable housing industry, are committed to working together to achieve the president's goal of adding 5.5 million new minority homeowners by the end of the decade."

NAHB was represented at the conference by Garczynski, who participated in a panel discussion on the barriers to the production of affordable housing, and by David Seiders, NAHB's chief economist, who presented economic analysis demonstrating the significant economic benefits that would result from an increase in minority homeownership rates.

"Increases in minority homeownership won't just happen," Garczynski said. "Congress needs to pass the administration's Renewing the Dream' tax credit that would stimulate production of homes for low-income buyers."

Garczynski urged Congress to pass HR 3995, the "Housing Affordability for America Act of 2002," which enjoys bipartisan support in the House. The bill includes provisions that will expand rental housing and homeownership opportunities across the country. These provisions include:

Making downpayment simplification permanent for the FHA single-family program;

Allowing FHA multifamily loan limits to be indexed for inflation;

Giving the HUD secretary the discretion to raise FHA loan limits in high-cost areas;

Repealing the scheduled increase in the Government National Mortgage Associa-tion guarantee fee; and,

Permitting Community Development Block Grant and HOME funds to be utilized for extending homeownership opportunities to municipal employees.

In support of the president's initiative, NAHB has committed to building a network of homeownership advocates in 20 top housing markets to promote homeownership education, improve minority access to credit, and remove barriers to the production of affordable housing, Garczynski said.

"This initiative will take a concerted effort from the government and the private sector," Garczynski said. "The more than 200,000 members of NAHB are committed to removing barriers to homeownership for minority families."