One of our favorite economic prognosticators is a guy in San Francisco named Dick Lepre … Dick was commenting on all the “Occupy Wall Street” cavorting and shared the following little nugget:
“For many potential homebuyers, the lack of cash available to accumulate the required down payment and closing costs is the major impediment to purchasing a home. Other households do not have sufficient available income to make the monthly payments on mortgages financed at market interest rates for standard loan terms. Financing strategies, fueled by the creativity and resources of the private and public sectors, should address both of these financial barriers to homeownership.”
Source: The National Homeownership Strategy: Partners in the American Dream, published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1994
This was the directive from HUD, not Wall Street. Do the protesters care?