More needs to be done to help housing – Bernanke

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, urged lawmakers to form “strong housing policies to help the housing market recovery” and advance the economy.

His remarks come at a time when more than 6.3 million homes are 30 days or more behind on their mortgage payments or in foreclosure, according to Lender Processing Services.

The Fed has taken steps that have been keeping mortgage rates hovering at or near record lows in recent weeks, but with unemployment still high, Bernanke said that record-low interest rates don’t seem to be helping the housing crisis.

Bernanke called long-term unemployment a “national crisis.” About 6.2 million Americans, or 45.1 percent of all unemployed, have been jobless for more than six months.

“Clearly getting more money into the hands of homeowners who spend it could help to fuel GDP growth,” said Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. “This would reduce one of the impediments to a more significant effect from the monetary policy actions taken to date.”