What is the best way to get the US real estate market / economy going?

A) lower interest rates to 4.5% for new / first-time homebuyers (Ben Bernanke’s plan)
B) lower interest rates to 3.0% for those facing foreclosure (at least three-months behind in payments) (Sheila Blair’s plan)
C) wait until home prices drop enough to bring new [...]

You might think that the foreclosure crisis is mainly hitting innocent people taken advantage of by unscrupulous lenders.
Truth is, the reality is a lot more complex.
in an article in this week’s Dorchester Reporter, Chris Lovett reports that many homes in Boston’s Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods appear to have been bought by speculators and flipped for [...]

Back in the halcyon days that were 2004-2006, many buyers who should have known better took out what are called “option-ARM” loans.
As you know, and as Wikipedia describes, an option-ARM is “typically a 30-year ARM that initially offers the borrower four monthly payment options: a specified minimum payment, an interest-only payment, a 15-year fully amortizing [...]

Housing expert and economist Karl “Chip” Case says the US real estate market looks close to its bottom and could rebound within 90 days.
He bases his opinion on the fact that new housing starts have dropped under the 1 million (annualized) rate, for the first time. In previous downturns, the market began to rebound [...]

How do you help a homeowner who can’t keep up his or her payments on a home loan?
You find him or her another loan, is what you do.
So that the borrower can default on that loan, too.
At least that’s what pessimists are saying will happen following Congressional approval of the new “housing rescue” bill, which [...]

The Senate and the House of Representatives appear close to approving a $300 billion government rescue plan to help homeowners facing foreclosure.
Lou Barnes seems a bit skeptical about it:
Then there is this week’s housing bill. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd’s egomaniacal dream is going to fall flatter than Phoenix vacant land, so flat that it [...]

Unbelievable!
From Inman News:
$300 billion FHA expansion clears Senate hurdle
A plan to expand FHA loan guarantee programs by $300 billion to help troubled borrowers refinance into more affordable loans cleared a procedural hurdle Tuesday, as the Senate voted 83-9 to move forward on a debate. The “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008″ would also create [...]

From the Journal:
Next month, Michelle Augustine plans to walk away from her four-bedroom house in a Sacramento, Calif., subdivision and let the property fall into foreclosure. But before doing so, she hopes to lock in the purchase of another home nearby.
“I can find the same exact house as what I live in right now for [...]

What a car-wreck.
The Federal Housing Administration guarantees loans for millions of borrowers.
The FHA is often the lender of last resort; it allows those with blemished credit to get loans, but more importantly, it allows you to borrow up to 97% of your purchase price – actually, sometimes over 100% (to cover closing costs).
Lately, having access [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has put together a fantastic interactive map of foreclosures and subprime loan information covering each city and town in the Commonwealth over the past two decades (thanks to the Boston.com real estate blog for the heads-up).
I transferred the data for Boston to a table, below.
Fascinating information.
Compare 2007 with 1991-1993. [...]