Mark Zandi quotes

Potential home buyers have a two-step decision process. First, they determine whether they can afford to make a purchase - does their income safely cover their mortgage payment? Then they determine whether owning is a better financial choice than renting - are the costs of owning a home lower than the cost of renting it? (Mark Zandi)
The most important point is, in a time of crisis, there is no way out but for the government to be bold and aggressive. View quote
Mark Zandi
In a normal time, I don't think economic policy makes a large difference one way or another. But in times of crisis it makes all the difference in the world. View quote
Mark Zandi
It is hard to be enthusiastic about the economy's prospects when house prices are falling: Households spend less, small business owners can't use homes as collateral for loans and local governments are forced to cut jobs and programs as property-tax revenue disappears. View quote
Mark Zandi
Our biggest challenge is to eliminate the popular perception that economists don't have anything useful to say. View quote
Mark Zandi
The discussion in Washington has changed dramatically. I mean, it's no longer a question of should we address entitlements - it's no longer a question of do we need to reduce spending in the future. View quote
Mark Zandi
Investor demand for distressed property has been healthy, as rents rise to levels that can cover investors' costs while they wait for properties to appreciate. Giving investors a small tax break should further juice up demand, supporting prices for distressed homes and the market in general. View quote
Mark Zandi
Too-easy credit and millions of bad loans made during the U.S. housing bubble paved the way for the financial calamity and Great Recession that followed. Today, by contrast, credit is too tight. Mortgage loans are particularly hard to get, creating a problem for the housing market and the broader economy. View quote
Mark Zandi
My policy is I will help any policymaker who asks, whether they be a Republican or a Democrat. View quote
Mark Zandi
The Tea Party was born out of the disgust many Americans felt early in the financial crisis upon learning that the federal government was even contemplating reducing the principal on some troubled mortgages. View quote
Mark Zandi
They called me the sexiest economist in America, and that was years ago, when I had hair and body mass and my teeth were shiny. (Mark Zandi)
I'm a registered Democrat. View quote
Mark Zandi
There is no better way to quickly buoy hard-pressed homeowners than helping them take advantage of the currently record low fixed mortgage rates and significantly reduce their monthly mortgage payments. View quote
Mark Zandi
There is plenty of blame to go around for the U.S. housing bubble, but not much of it belongs to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two giant housing-finance institutions made many mistakes over the decades, some of them real whoppers, but causing house prices to soar and then crater during the past decade weren't among them. View quote
Mark Zandi
There are different flavors of recession. You can get into some pretty dark scenarios pretty quickly. View quote
Mark Zandi
The extension and expansion of the payroll tax holidays for workers would be number one on my list and key to avoiding recession. View quote
Mark Zandi
A home is still the biggest asset that most Americans own. View quote
Mark Zandi
President Obama's reelection started the countdown for lawmakers to address the fiscal cliff and the statutory debt limit. Unless the President and House Republicans can agree on changes to current law, the U.S. economy will be in recession by spring. View quote
Mark Zandi
Our economy isn't going to recover until the housing market finds its footing. View quote
Mark Zandi
A housing renaissance has begun. This may be hard to believe after the dizzying, six-year-long crash in home sales, construction and house prices. But housing turned the corner last year, and it will take off in 2013. View quote
Mark Zandi
It has become fashionable to rail against government intervention in the economy, and the FHA is a favorite example by those trying to show the government's overreach. In reality, the FHA shows how government action during the Great Recession forestalled a much worse economic fate. (Mark Zandi)
The principal linkages between Japan and the U.S. global economies are trade, financial markets, and commodity markets. View quote
Mark Zandi
Indeed, the FHA was born out of the Great Depression, which was also caused in significant part by a foreclosure crisis. Mortgages in the early 1930s were mostly three- to five-year 'bullet' loans, which did not amortize and were due in full at maturity. View quote
Mark Zandi
The average credit score of today's FHA borrowers is higher than the average American household with a score. As it becomes more costly and difficult to get a FHA loan, loans from private mortgage lenders will become more attractive and their market share will grow. View quote
Mark Zandi
The FHA's success provides strong evidence that government can and should play a role in the nation's mortgage finance system. It also demonstrates that although government intervention in the economy during the Great Recession was messy, things would have been a lot messier without it. View quote
Mark Zandi