A plan announced today by the agency that regulates the mortgage loan giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is designed to ease tight credit on home mortgages and put the nation’s long-soft housing market back on track. For contractors, realtors and the entire housing ecosystem, the new plan could be the best news since the 2008 economic meltdown and subsequent “great recession.”

“We know that access to credit remains tight for many borrowers, and we are also working to address this issue in a responsible and thoughtful manner,” said Melvin L. Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics said, “On the whole, this is very good news for the housing market and the economy. Creditworthy borrowers who have been locked out of the housing market will finally have an opportunity to become homeowners.”

Some economists, along with mortgage bankers, welcomed the new plan, saying that it, along with more gains in the job market and newly lower mortgage rates, could put the housing recovery back on track.

(via: “NYTimes.com,” )