WASHINGTON, DC—The bursting of the housing bubble and the resulting foreclosure epidemic have exposed major flaws in the U.S. housing finance system. All agree that significant reforms are necessary in all areas of mortgage finance—origination, primary lending, and secondary markets for mortgage-backed securities including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—but there is little consensus on what the system should look like when reforms are in place.
Questions to be resolved include the following:
- What is the right balance between support for homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing?
- What is the appropriate role for the federal government in the mortgage finance system?
- How can we ensure liquidity, transparency, innovation, and equitable access to capital for families and communities?
- What should emerge after the conservatorship of the housing government-sponsored enterprises? What role for the Federal Housing Administration? Are new or reformed institutions required?
- Beyond stabilizing the single-family mortgage market, can we ensure adequate capital is available for affordable multifamily rental housing?
- How do mortgage market reforms relate to larger reform of financial market regulations?
Please join the Center for American Progress for a provocative discussion about the aims and challenges of mortgage market reform.
Featured Remarks: Reform Considerations in the Housing Finance System
Michael Barr, Counselor to the Director of the National Economic Council, White House
Welcoming Remarks
David Min, Associate Director for Financial Markets Policy, Center for American Progress
Moderated Discussion: Defining Progressive Principles for Mortgage Finance Reform
Michael Calhoun, President, Center for Responsible Lending
Jonathan Miller, Democratic Professional Staff, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (subject to Senate schedule)
Susan Wachter, Co-Director, Institute for Urban Research, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Kenneth Wade, Chief Executive Officer, Neighborworks
Barry Zigas, Director of Housing Policy, Consumer Federation of America
Moderated by:
Sarah Rosen Wartell, Executive Vice President and Managing Director for Economic Policy, Center for American Progress
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Location
Center for American Progress 1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor Washington, DC 20005
Map & Directions Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange Line to McPherson Square or Red Line to Metro Center