via Mises.org
Fannie Mae provides backing to mortgage banks, more or less encouraging them to make bad loans. Fannie Mae makes subsidized loans to mortgage companies when they are short of cash. Freddie Mac is a government mortgage bank that sells mortgages without the usual worry of making a profit, given its taxpayer backing. The government has taken over these two losing mortgage banks, and losses will be paid by taxpayers.
My take: there are two good reasons to buy a house - 1) To live there for a long time or 2) To rent it to other people. If you fall into one of these categories, it doesn’t really matter whether the price of your home goes up or down. What does matter is making sure you can afford to make the mortgage payments before you buy it. That’s also your lender’s obligation to their depositors (and an obligation that has been abdicated).
And, by the way, since when is everyone entitled to own a home? Owning property is a right, yes, but only in the sense that the ability to do so can’t be infringed upon; not in the sense that the ability to do so must be provided for.
