Economy

NPR reports on the largely unused Hope for Homeowners program, part of last summer’s housing bill that was meant to address the crisis in mortgage foreclosures.

High loan and interest fees, tough restrictions for consumers and costs to lenders are some of the reasons why the program has not caught on.

The Triad Business Index for November 2008 was unchanged over the previous month, but over the past 12 months, the TBI was up 2.4 percent.
Some of the highlights of the November report:

Residential building permits, which reflect planned construction, were off 8.4 percent

Existing, single-family homes sold in the Triad totaled 1,719 in the 4th quarter (seasonally [...]