White House said target to ease pressure on home prices

August 10, 2011, Runningen 8: 48 AM EDT by Roger

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration is looking for ideas of investors about how to convert thousands of foreclosed properties in rent houses, administration officials said.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will be assisted by the Treasury Department and the Ministry of housing and urban development in soliciting proposals, said the officials, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly before an announcement planned for later today.The goal is to reduce the number of foreclosed properties and relieve the pressure on prices on the housing industry, according to a report published earlier by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by White House aides.

Contact the reporter on this story: Roger Runningen in Washington on rrunningen@bloomberg.net

Contact the editor responsible for this story: Leslie Hoffecker on lhoffecker@bloomberg.net