Download (PDF 1.31 MB)

More than 10 years after the announcement of their conservatorship, the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) remain in the same “temporary” arrangement put into place to calm the storms of the housing and financial crises of 2006 through 2008. Housing finance reform remains the single largest unfinished business of the financial crisis.

The National Association of REALTORS® has collaborated with Susan Wachter of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Richard Cooperstein of Andrew Davidson and Company on new research exploring ideal restructuring of the secondary mortgage market.

This working paper will help you to understand why housing finance markets differ from purely competitive markets, but are similar to markets for public utilities. This approach informs the nature of reform needed to ensure financial stability going forward.