The National Association of Home Builders chided President Barack Obama for
not mentioning the housing market’s importance in his Sept. 8 presentation to
Congress on his jobs plan.
"While the nation's home builders commend President
Obama for tackling critical employment issues, it's discouraging that the
administration still fails to recognize that housing has a central role to play
in restoring the nation's work force,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a
builder from Reno, Nev. "In normal times, housing accounts for 18 percent
of the nation's gross domestic product, and nothing packs a bigger local
economic impact than home building. Constructing 100 average single-family
homes generates more than 300 full-time jobs, $23.1 million in wage and business
income and $8.9 million in federal, state and local tax revenue.”
Nielsen pointed out that residential construction has
typically been a leading indicator of the end of a downturn.
"Housing has traditionally led the nation out of
past recessions and needs to be playing a far bigger role than it has so far in
today's lackluster recovery,” he added. “That won't happen until federal
regulators move to end the credit freeze for new home production, banks allow
qualified home buyers access to affordable home loans and policymakers
acknowledge there is a clear need to support home ownership and get housing
moving again to spur growth, create jobs and restore consumer confidence."
