Obama goes on Internet to answer housing questions via Zillow LOS ANGELES, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama spent some time on the Internet Wednesday taking questions from Americans about housing issues. Obama responded to a number of inquiries passed along by Zillow Chief Executive Officer Spencer Rascoff, who said the real estate website had fielded thousands of questions from various social media in recent days. The first question went to Andrew Houston in Gainesville, Fla., who asked the president how he thought the rise in interest rates the past three months will affect the housing recovery going forward, particularly their affect on home values. Obama said with the housing market "healing pretty much across the country," rates have edged up. "But I think that all of us recognize that it is still a soft housing market, in part because it's still a soft employment market -- there are still a lot of folks who are out of work," he said. And the real economy is directly related to the housing market. So what we've heard from the Fed Reserve chairman is that he thinks it's important for interest rates to remain relatively low so long as unemployment remains high. That should continue to help the housing market. But given that interest rates tick up a little bit as the economy improves, it is especially important for Congress to act on the proposal that we put forward which says let's not just let a few people refinance; let's allow everybody who is potentially eligible to go ahead and refinance. It can end up being the equivalent of a $3,000 tax cut, basically, money in your pocket, or, alternatively, as Andrew was talking about, it gives homeowners an opportunity to start building back some of the equity in the home that they lost during the Great Recession. The president joked that he and his wife are living in "a rental" right now, referring to the White House, but "would probably benefit from refinancing right now" on their Chicago home. I would save some money. When you're president, you have to be a little careful about these transactions, so we haven't refinanced," Obama said. But there's no doubt that somebody like Michelle and I, who bought our house several years ago, that if we went out to the market right now, we'd end up saving some money. Obama also said his administration is looking at "how can we make sure that more people whose homes are still underwater can potentially benefit from the refinancing programs," including those who owe more than their homes are worth.