TAMPA - The government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac promises some real benefits for the Tampa Bay area, which for months has struggled under the force of the nation's housing downturn.

Industry experts agree the government's backing will:

•Lower interest rates on home loans.

•Create a larger pool of buyers who can afford to spend more.

•Reduce the significant inventory of unsold homes.

•Boost the confidence of consumers who have been afraid to buy homes in recent months.

Don't get too excited just yet, however. Although the government bailout is a "significant event," it won't be a cure-all for the troubled real estate market, particularly in Florida, said Mark Vitner, an economist with Wachovia, the financial services company based in Charlotte, N.C.

"The problems are largely due to the foreclosure issue," Vitner said. "And this does nothing to help that. As a result, a real recovery is still a couple of years away."

The plan unveiled Sunday by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson does little to help homeowners already struggling to pay their mortgages. What it will do, experts say, is give the real estate market the boost it needs to sell more homes and spur the local economy.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a dominant role in the housing market. The companies buy mortgage loans from banks and package those loans into securities that they either hold or sell to U.S. and foreign investors. This allows traditional lenders to make more loans to home buyers.

Professionals Worry About Failure

Fannie and Freddie together own or guarantee about $5 trillion in home loans, half the nation's total. As a number of those loans went into default or foreclosure in recent years, the companies' financial reserves started to drain. That sent a chill through credit markets worldwide and caused investors to grow skittish and borrowing costs to rise.

Real estate industry professionals have become increasingly worried about what could happen to the already troubled housing market if Fannie and Freddie fail.

This takeover means Fannie and Freddie have been placed into a conservatorship. That means that the government is promising investors that the companies' debt is as safe as the Treasury Department's.

Although it won't solve all the problems in the housing market, George McBride, senior financial analyst with Bankrate.com, said the takeover means lenders won't be as reluctant to lend money for mortgages, and borrowers will get better lending terms.

"You'll still have to have good credit, proof of income and a down payment, though," McBride said. "It will never be like it was before when someone with a poor credit history could qualify to buy a $400,000 house with no money down."

Real Estate Agents Cheer Move

Mortgage rates, which now average 6.35 percent, could fall to slightly less than 6 percent by October, said Chris Lafakis, an associate economist with Moody's Economy.com.

"This is big news," he said. "A game changer. This removes the risk that the market will get worse than it already is."

Local real estate agents, trapped under a backlog of unsold homes, cheered the takeover Monday.

Monica Rodriguez Shaffer of Re/Max Realty Unlimited said the lower interest rate will help her clients afford better homes and will coax some reluctant buyers into acting now.

"Even a small change in the interest rate affects the monthly payment," she said. "About 95 percent of the people who come to me come looking for a monthly payment, not a home price."

Denis Romero of Coldwell Banker agrees.

"This will send the pendulum back to the middle where it needs to be," Romero said. "It won't make it really easy to qualify for a loan, but will make it better for a lot of people."

Although those sentiments were widely circulated Monday, not everyone jumped onboard.

"The experts can say what they want, but I don't buy it," said Mike Citron of Citron Investment Group, a local lender, and Sloan Mortgage Group, a local brokerage company. "I'm not a big fan of government taking over anything."

Sloan said that even though the takeover may spell long-term benefits, he fears a "chaotic state of uncertainty" for three months to a year.

"If I were to originate a loan today based on today's standards, how do I know that Fannie or Freddie will purchase the loan and how timely they'll purchase it?" Citron said. "This doesn't ease my fears."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at  (813) 259-7804 or sbehnken@tampatrib.com.