Interesting MSN article: Habitat for Humanity is a Big Builder. 

 

It isn't that we (being the collective affiliates all across the country) are growing our numbers. They simply aren't shrinking or falling off like the other builders.  And why is that?  What the article says about the need for affordable housing is very true and will remain with the job market refusing to rebound and pay scales either staying stagnant or shrinking.  But I think another aspect of that affordability equation, which is rarely mentioned, is the money. 

 

In the glory days of real estate, money was pretty easy to get, but you had to pay for it.  Interest rates were high, so the cost of the already unaffordable home was driven into the outer galaxy of unaffordable.  A lot of those borrowers were qualified into loans they really had no place in having.  The loans ate up too much of their disposable income and the borrower struggled to stay on top of the loan instead of saving for our current rainy days. Once they lost their job or had their wages scaled back, they were in immediate trouble. 

 

Now that the economy has tanked, money isn't all that expensive to get, but the banks are having a difficult time giving it out.  I would like to think it is because they are being careful to better qualify the loan to the borrower, but frankly it seems like they are just scared.  The people who've always kept their credit clean and saved money can now finally afford to purchase some of the more affordable standing inventory with the affordable loans that are out there but the banks aren't moving all that fast to be part of that transaction.

 

That is just one of the reasons I think Habitat is a long way from being put out of business by the declining real estate market.  Not only is the home affordable, but the mortgage is affordable.