First-Time Homebuyer Credit Will Be Extended…But How?
For months, the real estate industry has eagerly awaited news on whether the first-time homebuyer tax credit (for up to $8,000) would be extended past its original deadline of Nov. 30.
Yesterday, they sort of got an answer.
“We have that. Done,” Senator Chris Dodd told reporters. But there was no official word on how long the benefit would last. Or whether second-time, third-time, etc. buyers would now be able to use the credit. Or whether the income restrictions would change. (All this according to Reuters.)
Back in September, when the credit’s future was uncertain, buyers rushed to purchase new homes and make sure they used the credit while it was still around.
That month, sales of used (”existing”) homes increased 9.4 percent, after a dissapointing and unexpected sales drop off in August, according to economist Patrick Newport of IHS Global Insight. But in his latest report, Newport forewarned that unless the tax credit “is both extended and expanded, sales will take a hit, and house prices, which have stabilized recently, will start falling again.”
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Linked From: October 30th, 2009Homebuyer Tax Credit Will Extend Through July - Housing Complex - Washington City Paper
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Linked From: October 30th, 2009Top Blog Posts of the Past Week - Housing Complex - Washington City Paper
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10:41 am
Please let me know if you have any help for the unemployed, in regards to forebearances on home loans with Bank of America. I am a certified teacher looking for work, I need a little time.
Thanks
11:08 am
Hope they extend this to not only first time buyers but other buyers as well. Consumers just need a little something to get off the fence and this has seemed to work.
3:29 pm
I’ve read somewhere that the extension signed by Senate mandates that the contract be signed between Dec 1 2009 and April 30 2010.
I signed the contract for a new home, in September 2009. But the home will be ready to close only in April 2010. Now, because I signed the contract before Dec 1, 2009, will I be ineligible for the tax credit?
Someone please respond…