President Bush Signs Landmark Housing Bill into Law

WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
Landmark housing legislation signed into law today by President
Bush is aimed at ending the current cyclical downturn in the housing
industry, helping home buyers and strapped borrowers and strengthening
the housing finance system, according to the National Association of
Home Builders (NAHB).

"This milestone bill contains several provisions to get home
buyers back into the marketplace, stop the slide in home prices,
provide a lifeline to borrowers facing foreclosure, improve mortgage
liquidity and bolster confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," said
NAHB President Sandy Dunn, a home builder from Point Pleasant, W.Va.
"We commend Congress and the President for taking this action to
provide much-needed relief to the American people." For the past year,
NAHB has been in the forefront in pushing for legislation to address
the turmoil in the financial and housing markets and to bolster the
nation's faltering economy.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), a chief
architect of the bill, calls it "the most important piece of housing
legislation in a generation."

Key elements of H.R. 3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act
of 2008, include:

-- A temporary first-time home buyer tax credit. The tax credit
will stimulate home buying, reduce excess supply in housing
markets and shore up home prices.

-- FHA modernization and expansion. A revitalized FHA will have
greater flexibility to respond to the needs of borrowers,
enable more working families to become home owners and play an
important role in the mortgage markets. To address the
foreclosure crisis, the FHA is given additional authority to
insure up to $300 billion of mortgages to refinance loans
headed for foreclosure.

-- GSE (government-sponsored enterprise) reform. The law reforms
the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and permanently
increases the conforming loan limit to help buyers in
high-cost markets. To reassure financial and global markets,
the government will temporarily expand its line of credit to
Fannie and Freddie and permit the U.S. Treasury to purchase an
equity stake in the companies through the end of 2009.

-- Mortgage Revenue Bond Program. The measure gives states the
ability to issue an additional $11 billion in mortgage revenue
bonds, which will help strapped borrowers seeking to refinance
their home loans.

-- Low Income Housing Tax Credit. Enhancing this program will
expand the supply of much-needed affordable rental housing.

Tax Credit Centerpiece of Housing Bill

The centerpiece of the housing bill is a temporary, $7,500
first-time home buyer tax credit for the purchase of any home. The tax
credit can be used for homes purchased between April 9, 2008 and July
1, 2009. It is expected to provide a significant -- and temporary --
financial incentive for home buyers.

"The tax credit is the best stimulative measure," said Dunn. "It
will increase housing demand, get home buyers back into the
marketplace and fight falling home prices, which threaten the economy
as a whole."

The original eligibility period expired in April 2009, but
following a major grassroots campaign from NAHB members, the period
was extended to June 30, 2009 to enable home builders to include the
credit in their sales and marketing next spring and into the early
summer -- the peak home buying season.

NAHB has launched a new Web site, www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com,
which includes a set of comprehensive questions and answers about how
the credit works and how consumers can put it to their advantage.

Further resources to help NAHB members promote consumer awareness
about the credit are also available at www.nahb.org/mythbuster.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: NAHB will be hosting a media teleconference at
2:00 p.m. EDT, Monday, August 4 to explain the provisions of the new
housing bill and how it benefits the housing industry. Media wishing
to participate on the call may dial 1-800-860-2442 five minutes before
2 p.m. and ask for the "NAHB housing bill teleconference.")

ABOUT NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders is a
Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing more than
235,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily
construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing
finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of
residential and light commercial construction. Known as "the voice of
the housing industry," NAHB is affiliated with more than 800 state and
local home builders associations around the country. NAHB's builder
members will construct 80 percent of the more than 1.08 million new
housing units projected for 2008.

National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
Donna Reichle, 202-266-8473
dreichle@nahb.com
www.nahb.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008