WASHINGTON /PRNewswire/ — National Association of Realtors® President John Smaby issued the following statement after Mark Calabria’s testimony in front of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs this morning. The Realtors® are urging the Senate to quickly confirm Dr. Calabria to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has been led by Acting Director Joseph Otting since the beginning of this year.
“The National Association of Realtors® was pleased to see Mark Calabria today defend the FHFA’s critical role in the U.S. housing market. Specifically, NAR applauds Dr. Calabria for pledging his commitment to the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, supporting additional access to capital, and highlighting taxpayer and consumer protection as critical tenants of housing finance reform,” said Smaby, a second-generation Realtor® from Edina, Minnesota. “With decades of housing policy experience, including time spent as an economist at NAR, Dr. Calabria has demonstrated the industry expertise needed to lead this agency forward, particularly as GSE reform conversations begin to intensify in Washington.”
Calabria also indicated support for reforming the G-fee structure, a position for which NAR has publicly advocated in the past.
“NAR urges Dr. Calabria’s swift confirmation in the Senate, and we look forward to immediately engaging the FHFA to advance housing finance reforms that will protect taxpayers, minimize costs to consumers, promote housing affordability, preserve the 30-year fixed rate mortgage and maximize access for creditworthy borrowers,” Smaby concluded.
SOURCE National Association of Realtors