Originally Posted by
Kilgore Trout
Why did anyone think it was a good idea to offer these programs?
In part, because these programs allowed politicians to boast about the growth in homeownership rates. More significantly, they also (artificially) inflated the economy through a rapidly expanding real estate and construction sector, and through profligate consumer spending from home equity lending.
Originally Posted by
Kilgore Trout
Was anyone not requiring government housing subsidies interested in the properties these programs were designed to get people into?
It is likely these properties would not have existed but for these programs. The increased number of "qualified" homebuyers resulted in a massive contruction boom that resulted in more homes than would have been necessary for buyers who qualified under more traditional lending standards.