Remember this boob, Ara Hovnanian? He's the face of Hovnanian Enterprises a homebuilding concern. Here's what he said the other day:
"Housing starts went down. We're proposing a temporary, 30 year, fixed-rate mortgage at 3 percent. That would be for next year. The rate would go up to 4 percent in 2010."
Who's going to *give* everyone 3 percent mortgages?
Well, the government of course!
Yeah, let's just ignore the fact that low teaser mortgage rates are a huge part of what got us into this mess in the first place.
"A lot of focus has been on foreclosures. But that is not going to solve the problem. There is a problem of supply and demand. Supply will be out of balance until we can stimulate demand."
Or, Ara, how about we reduce supply? How about we sit back and watch a bunch of arrogant homebuilders go bankrupt?
Plus, one could stimulate demand all they want - if there are 3.5 million more homes than households, what the heck difference will that make?
Look at what this dimwit offered as a *housing prescription* last July:
"‘Raise prices,’ said (CEO) Ara Hovnanian. ‘Buyers aren’t buying because they think you’re going to lower prices again. There’s interest but there’s fear. Raise prices 3-4 percent. And quit giving discounts.’"(link)
When I wrote that post, Ara's company was down to $1 billion in market value. Today it's trading at $2.79 a share and is down to a $216 million stock. Even at that *reduced* price, a full 50% of the float is still shorted. Zero here we come!
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