NAR Statement on Soundness and Importance of Fannie Mae and

Freddie Mac

Washington, July 14, 2008

The following is a statement by the National Association of Realtors President Richard F. Gaylord:

"The National Association of Realtors welcomes the strong response this weekend by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board in response to the market turmoil and apparent overreations that began last week affecting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The health of the American economy depends on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the steps taken by the U.S. government make clear that the role of Fannie and Freddie, in making fair and affordable mortgage loans available for home owners and home buyers, must not and cannot be interrupted."

"We support the federal government's actions and authorization to help ensure the ability of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to promote the availability of home mortgage credit during a period of stress in the financial markets. Fannie and Freddie play a central role in our housing finance system, and we agree that they must continue to do so as we work through the current housing correction."

June 26, 2008

Karen Schlosser, President of Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors Reports

           1,913 Homes Sold in May;

     Up 4 Consecutive Months

Local Realtors sold 1913 homes last month, marking the fourth consecutive month of increased sales this year.  The inventory of unsold homes also improved, shrinking to 8.38 months compared to 9.49 months from April and 13.31 months from January.

Riddle: What is 57 and 398 and 1,724 with regard to real estate?

Answer: It's the number of homes sold through the Multiple Listing Service of Greater Cincinnati every day, week and month for the past one year. "Who says that homes aren't selling?", commented Karen Schlosser, president of the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtor.

Nationwide, May homes sales seasonally adjuested were up 2% from April. They were off  15.9% from a year ago.

"The reduction in inventory of homes for sale is paving the way for a balanced market of five to six months of unsold homes." said Schlosser. "It won't happen over the next 30 days, but clearly we're headed in the right direction."

The average price of a home sold in May was $168.833. That compares to $152.419 the previous month and $176,726 a year earlier.

BREAKING NEWS! From WLWT Channel 5

CINCINNATI -- With the economy slowing, stalling or falling, depending on your point of view, one magazine says Cincinnati's the place to buy a home now.

Money Magazine named the city as one of six that are

"the best place to buy a home these days."

"The city's manufacturing-heavy economy should benefit from the falling dollar. Commercial building is up, and high-end developments are moving in," said the article. The magazine didn't elaborate beyond those two sentences.

The other five on the list were Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and Houston

    ___________________________________________________