President Obama covered a lot of domestic and foreign policy ground in his state-of-the-union address, but one topic was conspicuously absent: Housing. The President referred to housing policy only indirectly and briefly, when he noted his administration’s belief that “sensible regulations could prevent another crisis,” and said that “things like lower mortgage premiums and a higher minimum wage…. will make a difference in the lives of millions of families.”
Analysts said the omission indicates the extent to which housing has been demoted on the list of government priorities. “In the good news economy, housing is the laggard,” Susan Wachter, professor of real estate and finance at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, told MarketWatch. “Housing and the rebuilding of the broken housing finance system is the unfinished business with no easy answer, not even a prescription that Democrats can get together on. This is why housing, despite its importance to the economy, did not feature in the [President’s] address.”