Lowering Rates

The most successful program was the Fed's drive to lower interest rates by purchasing bonds, starting with $1.25 trillion of mortgage-backed securities in 2009 and 2010, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics Inc. The average rate for a U.S. 30-year fixed loan fell to 4.17 percent in November, the lowest in records dating to 1971, according to Freddie Mac.

"Some of the government's efforts to stimulate the housing market have been more successful than others, but it's hard to imagine what would have happened if it had done nothing," said Zandi, based in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Bernanke has signaled that some of the blame for the housing morass may be on the government's foreclosure-prevention plan, the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP.

"I'd like to see further effort to modify loans where appropriate, and, where not appropriate, to speed the process of foreclosure and disposition of the foreclosed homes in order to clear the market," he said.

Short Of Goal

HAMP has fallen short of expectations. When President Barack Obama announced the program in 2009, he set a goal of 3 million to 4 million modifications by the end of 2012. Of the 1.6 million trial plans started since then, 608,615 have turned into permanent modifications. Neil Barofsky, former special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, called the program a failure during Congressional testimony in March.

"We've managed to keep a lot of people in their homes and alleviated a lot of suffering," said Timothy Massad, acting assistant secretary for the Treasury Department's Office of Financial Stability. Without the government programs, "you would have had a higher rate of foreclosures and foreclosures are not in anybody's interest," he said.

In some cases, modifications have only prolonged the pain by giving second chances to people who later end up in default, said Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, a Republican. About a third of new foreclosures are loans that have defaulted after modifications or the borrowers caught up on payments, according to Lender Processing Services Inc.

"I'd like to see government get out of the real estate business entirely," said Horne. "The market can find its way all on its own."