The Obama Mortgage Plan

Its a mixed bag:

Essentially the plan makes it a lot easier for people who have equity of less than 20% and are having trouble making their mortgage payments to refinance at very favorable rates. As expected there will be income limits on the borrowers and the loans must be conforming loans. The hope is this will keep more people in their homes and also put a floor under housing prices.

The problem is that this is not just about the government bailing people out, its about the government forcing lenders to renegotiate mortgages in a way that lenders would not do on their own. While this may keep some people in their homes - a very good thing - it will also raise lending costs for the rest of us. Banks will need to start charging more for their loans simply because now they need to worry that the government may force them to renegotiate on unfavorable terms. Yes - its only banks who took TARP money but even healthy banks were forced to take the money so that there would be no stigma attached to being bailed out (less of a stigma?)

What this means is that the overall cost of loans will go higher not lower - exactly what we don't need. The question - as yet unanswered - is whether the benefit of the subsidized refinancings will outweigh the higher lending costs that the rest of us face.