Wednesday, June 29th, 2011Doug Covill, president Sacramento Association of Realtors, speaks to the Carmichael Chamber of Commerce June 29, 2011.
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 We came back from the NAR Mid-Year meeting feeling a bit tossed around. The housing market will not recover, and therefore the economy will not recover, until all creditworthy homebuyers can get a mortgage. For example, we don’t need to get rid of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We need to go to this time back before they got so loose. The pendulum has swung too far. Making it too hard to get loans won’t help the economy. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, said sales would rise 15-20 percent if FHA and Fannie and Freddie would return to normal lending standards. We heard a lot of talk about requiring all buyers to put 20 percent down to buy a home. We all understand the value of buyers making a down payment. But that is no way to encourage home ownership. The crowd burst into applause when one speaker called that idea “lunacy.” Mr. Yun referred to such proposals as an attack on the middle class. He also calculated that, using average prices and salaries, it would take a buyer 14 years to save for a 20 percent down payment. We all know that not everyone should be a homeowner. We also know that homeownership creates lots of benefits, including more education, less crime and better health. We also know lots of people who could and should be able to buy a home right now but are finding it very hard.  2011 marks SAR’s 49th year of awarding scholarships to deserving Sacramento area students. The Scholarship Fund was initially a $600 yearly program that provided $100 to $200 scholarships for Sacramento students attending American River Junior College, Sacramento City College, and Sacramento State College (now California State University, Sacramento). Over the years SAR has expanded [...] When 34 area students receive college scholarships from the Sacramento Association of REALTORS® on June 7, they will join a group of students reaching back 49 years. Their scholarships, ranging from $750 to $2500, total $38,250 this year. “Through all the ups and downs of real estate over the years, Sacramento REALTORS® have always supported higher education through their own contributions,” Perry Georgallis, REALTOR® and chair of the Scholarship Foundation Trustees, said. The scholarship fund began as a $600 program that provided $100 to $200 scholarships for Sacramento students attending American River Junior College, Sacramento City College, and Sacramento State College (now California State University, Sacramento). Over the years, SAR has expanded the scholarship program to support students in a variety of other fields at many different institutions. “Education is one of the most important gifts we can give today’s youth. Education benefits not only the student but the entire community. The students who receive a SAR scholarship to attend college may one day be our clients, our co-workers and our community leaders. All these young people are so outstanding, they give us faith in the future,” Georgallis said. |
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