HUD Secretary Donovan Optimistic on Housing Recovery

The housing recovery is still at a fragile stage, but with inventories of unsold homes receding and home sales and prices rising "we may be finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," HUD secretary Shaun Donovan said. The Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary made his remarks at a Consumer Federation of America conference. He stressed to reporters afterwards that it is "far too early to say we are out of the woods." But he noted that completed foreclosures have declined three months in a row and the Obama administration's loan modification program is a contributing factor. Foreclosures are "still too high," he said, and the administration is considering several options to assist unemployed homeowners. "We will make an announcement relatively soon," he added. The HUD secretary noted that a Pennsylvania state mortgage assistance plan does not require lenders or private investors to absorb any of the principal reduction. "I would not support a process where there is no principal reduction by whoever owns the loan," he told reporters.