Former House speaker repeated vow to repeal Dodd-Frank Act, which he says is stalling housing market's recovery
Republican hopeful Newt Gingrich has accused Barack Obama of carrying out a "direct hit" on Florida's housing market, driving home owners further into debt.
In a Guardian video on the housing crisis and Tuesday's Republican primary contest in Florida, Gingrich briefly pauses his attacks on rival Mitt Romney to take a swing at Obama's Wall Street reforms.
The former House speaker said that the Dodd-Frank Act, Obama's financial reform bill, was stalling the recovery of the housing market. Gingrich repeated a promise to repeal the legislation if he were elected.
"Dodd-Frank is a direct hit on the housing system in Florida," he told the Guardian. "You get the regulators out of the way and you will, in fact, find it easier to sell houses, and you will see the prices of houses go back up."
Romney, who also appears in the video, went even further, blaming the collapse of the housing market – which occurred when George Bush was in the White House – on Obama.
In a visit to the south-west Florida town of Lehigh Acres, where about 1 in 95 homes is in foreclosure, Romney also told a gathering to reserve some sympathy for banks, as well as homeowners.
"The banks aren't bad people," Romney told the small crowd in front of an empty foreclosed home. "They're just overwhelmed."
About half of all Florida homeowners are now in negative equity, owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. The crash goes far beyond lower income homeowners.
Last week, the actor Burt Renynolds dropped the sale price of his Florida mansion from $9m to $4m. Foreclosure proceedings on the property began in August last year.