We just got back from an event featuring HUD secretary Shaun Donovan, who weighed in on Fannie, Freddie, and the future of affordable housing. (We're putting today's publication out right away in case anyone wants to go out and buy a house.) At the Newseum, Shaun reported that there's plenty to be hopeful about, from the ongoing acceleration of the economy to a housing market that appears to have stabilized. But reforming Fannie and Freddie is high on his list, and he hopes legislation can be passed soon to replace the lending giants with a new agency that would change the GSEs' implicit guarantee into an explicit one. Noting the upcoming mid-terms, Shaun points out that there's "a relatively short window to get something done." He made his remarks at Politico's Morning Money Breakfast Briefing.
Shaun (with moderator and Politico chief economic correspondent Ben White) says any new legislation should include a huge investment in preserving affordable housing in cities that need it—to the tune of over $5B. When asked by Ben to describe what he'd like his legacy as HUD chief to be, Shaun says he hopes to not only reform housing finance and move America past the economic crisis, but put a stop to homelessness, too.
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