Obama Highlights Recovery in State of the Union

During his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, President Barack Obama did not make any substantial announcements regarding the housing market, government mortgage-backed securities, or the GSEs. However, "lower mortgage premiums" were mentioned, alongside "child care and sick leave and equal pay" as "ideas [that] will make a meaningful difference in the lives of millions of families."

Obama said his budget proposal is aimed at "middle-class economics," with goals of "helping folks afford childcare, college, health care, a home, retirement."

However, in addition to mentioning the need for lower mortgage premiums, Obama also spoke of one American family who spends more on childcare than on their mortgage, prompting Jed Kolko, chief economist and VP of analytics at Trulia, to tweet in response, "Not a hard sell for lower FHA premiums."

Wall Street Journal journalist Joe Light tweeted during the speech, "Not much on housing in #SOTU but not much there could be. Housing needs stuff like wage growth to get going rather than legislation."

Obama did mention wage growth as he spoke of the overall progress of the national economy. "Today, thanks to a growing economy, the recovery is touching more and more lives," Obama said. "Wages are finally starting to rise again."

"The shadow of crisis has passed, and the state of the union is strong," the president said early in his speech.

The nation has experienced "the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled, and health care inflation at its lowest rate in fifty years," Obama said.

Obama touted the past year as "a breakthrough year for America" as job growth outpaced any year since 1999 and unemployment fell below pre-crisis levels.

However, not all agree with this rosy portrayal. "If only we could get more people to leave the labor force, the unemployment rate could fall some more," tweeted Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute, a public policy research group.