Your Say: Housing help off target? Hurdles to overcome

• Mortgage rates are at record lows.
• Housing prices and sales are finally improving.
• Yet recovery is slow. Is there more that can be done to boost housing?

Housing prices and sales are finally improving. Mortgage rates are at record lows, yet the recovery is slow. Readers on Twitter discuss why:

ISSUE WITH BANKS

Banks just simply couldn't afford to take the big time losses if they repossessed every deadbeat property in America. Banks are only repossessing homes to the extent that they can do so without doing severe damage to their balance sheets. That means that banks will continue to move slowly on foreclosures for at least another few years.

Johnnie Nichols

Government programs such as the Home Affordable Modification Program and Home Affordable Refinance Program have been a farce. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should have leadership removed. Banks created our mess and continue making money.

James Alexander

Both parties lose in foreclosure. With the nationwide scale of foreclosures due to financial institutions having lent irresponsibly, the entire economy suffers. This ripple effect means we need a solution so these same lenders can hope to resume responsible lending.

Jen Kirley

Partisan bickering aside, I don't see why it's a bad idea to provide some relief to underwater mortgage holders.

Michael Anthony Shea

RESPONSIBILITY

Too bad government assistance does nothing to promote personal responsibility. Nobody forced any homeowner to sign a mortgage.

Tracey Edwards

I know others will say you sound harsh, but I know PLENTY of people who are just not good with their own finances and bought way too much house. They all ended up losing their homes, and frankly, I don't feel bad for those kinds of people. People who lost their jobs, that's a different story.

Rudisius Maksimus

BIG PICTURE

The jobs market is not slow because Americans lack credit for mortgages. The jobs market drives the housing market, and many are unemployed. The employed are prequalified for mortgages, but there is less home inventory in many areas. Connect the dots to see the correct picture.

VaNessa Vollmer

The housing market will not recover until the job market does. You need an income to buy a home.

J Thomas Gaffney

Republicans won't vote on a housing bill or anything that might help the people before Election Day. If they pass it, it helps Obama. If they vote no, they're voting against the middle class, which they're already losing.

Steve Silversmith