RE “FED’S housing ideas won’t fix market’’ (Op-ed, Jan. 13): Here’s the storyline that’s developed with respect to real estate and its role in the recession: During the recent drop in real estate values, a significant percentage of home buyers were not able to make their mortgage payments and were foreclosed upon. This was because they were unqualified, bankers were greedy and made risky loans, and the securitization of mortgages was not regulated enough and went haywire.
Yet in fact, the vast majority of home buyers, including those of low and moderate income, have met, and continue to meet, their mortgage obligations. So it is with great dismay that I read an esteemed professor such as Edward L. Glaeser write, “America does need to turn toward renting after an undue emphasis on owner occupancy.’’ Renting a home is not the American dream. Owning a home is.
