Posts Tagged tax credit
Reminder: Tax Credit Deadline April 30, 2010
The following is an excerpt from an article on Zillow.com about the tax credit deadline. If you are selling your own house, don’t forget to have information available for your prospective buyers on why this is a great time for them to buy your house!
“In what has been urged as a must-have by real estate professionals and builders, the $8000 tax credit for first-time home buyers (previously due to expire Nov. 30), has been extended through April 30, 2010, according to the Associated Press. Not only has it been extended, but it has also been expanded to include more buyers.
Details on Tax Credit Extension:
- $8000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers extended for buyers who sign a contract by April 30, 2010 (and who close by the end of June).
- $6500 tax credit offered to homebuyers who have lived in their current residence at least five years and who want to “trade up” (buy a new primary residence).
- Couples earning as much as $225,000 a year and individuals earning up to $125,000 would qualify (up from $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples).
- Tax credit not applicable for those buying homes worth more than $800,000.
- Those who sell their new home or stop using it as their main residence within three years would have to repay the credit.”
To read the whole article, visit Zillow.com.
Number of October Home Sales Up 10.1% from September
WASHINGTON – Home sales surged for the second month in a row in October, climbing to the highest level in 2 1/2 years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of an expiring tax credit.
Home sales nationwide are now up nearly 36 percent from their bottom in January, data Monday showed, though they are still 16 percent below the peak in autumn 2005. At the current sales pace, there is only a 7-month supply of homes on the market and in some areas there are bidding wars.
Joey Wilson, 53, and her husband made unsuccessful offers on 20 Las Vegas homes since midsummer before closing on a four-bedroom, $136,000 home this month.
“It’s insane,” said Wilson, who relocated from Kentucky. “I’ve never seen a market like this before.”
The National Association of Realtors said home resales rose 10.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million in October, from a downwardly revised pace of 5.54 million in September. It was the biggest monthly increase in a decade, and far above the 5.65 million pace expected by economists, according to Thomson Reuters.
Without adjusting for seasonal factors, sales were up 21 percent from a year earlier and were up in all four regions of the country. The gains were led a 26 percent increase in the Midwest. Sales were up 25 percent in the Northeast, 23 percent in the South and 10 percent in the West.
The housing recovery is being driven by lower prices combined with federal programs to lower mortgage rates and bring more buyers into the market. The median sales price was $173,100, down 7 percent from a year earlier and off roughly 2 percent from September.
Many experts predict prices will hit a new low next spring, perhaps falling another 5 to 10 percent, as more foreclosures get pushed onto the market.
The government has tried to counter that trend by offering a tax incentive for first-time buyers and by keeping mortgage rates around 5 percent since the spring.
The tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time owners was originally set to run out on Nov. 30, but Congress renewed it earlier this month and broadened its reach. People who have owned their current homes for at least five years can now claim a tax credit of up to $6,500 for a home purchase. To qualify, buyers must sign a purchase agreement by April 30.
The Realtors’ report on October home sales reflects offers made before buyers knew the tax credit would be extended.
“The incentives really did get people to go out and buy,” said Wells Fargo economist Adam York. “The question is: What does the trend look like when the credit is over with?”
Home sales are likely to drop over the winter as buyers hibernate for a few months without the looming tax credit deadline.
The new deadline means “we’re going to see some good activity coming out of the spring,” said Pat Lashinsky, chief executive of online real estate brokerage ZipRealty Inc.
But the government support can’t last forever. For example, the Federal Reserve is likely to curtail its effort to push down mortgage rates next year. If rates then rise too high, it would make home purchases less affordable and dampen housing demand.
“When we do kick those crutches out from under the housing market, will it be able to stand on its own?” said Mark Fleming, chief economist with real estate information company First American CoreLogic. “It’s really hard to tell.”
Another concern is that job losses are pushing once creditworthy homeowners into default. Borrowers with prime, fixed-rate loans accounted for one in three new foreclosures in the second quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said last week. Nationwide, a record 14 percent of homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure.
And in areas where foreclosures have hit hard, housing remains depressed, despite low prices and mortgage rates and the tax credit.
Cleveland real estate agent Colleen Rock notes that the city’s economy is still struggling with job losses. Another round of foreclosures could depress prices again.
“Just because we’re stabilizing, I can’t comfortably tell you we’re back to a normal market,” said Rock, an agent with Re/Max Crossroads. “It might be another year.”
Source: Associated Press. Writers David Twiddy, Alex Veiga and Adrian Sainz contributed to this report.
Both Houses OK Tax Credit Extension
I’m delighted to pass along some great news if you are trying to sell your own house! Especially if you think your home might appeal to first time buyers. And remember what I’ve taught you in “The Truth About FSBO” – contact a mortgage broker who will put together some FSBO marketing materials for you on loan programs and tax incentives available.
Daily Real Estate News | November 5, 2009 | Both Houses OK Tax Credit Extension, Expansion
The House today and the Senate yesterday passed legislation to extend the $8,000 home buyer tax credit to May 1, 2010, for first-time buyers and add a $6,500 tax credit for repeat buyers if they’ve lived in their home for five of the past eight years. Home prices are capped at $800,000.
The legislation in both houses was included in a bill to extend unemployment benefits and is expected to be signed by President Obama shortly.
“REALTORS® appreciate the swift action by Congress to extend the home buyer tax credit and expand it to some current homeowners,” says NAR President Charles McMillan. “As the leading advocate of housing and real estate issues, we urge President Obama to sign this legislation into law quickly to keep the momentum going in the fragile recovery of the nation’s housing market.”
Under the bill, income limits are expanded to $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for joint filers. Individuals with incomes up to $145,000 and joint filers with incomes up to $245,000 qualify for reduced credits.
Households who have binding contracts in place by April 30 will be allowed an additional 60 days to complete their transaction. The deadline for members of the military serving out the U.S. for at least 90 days between Jan. 1, 2009, and May 1, 2010, has been extended one year.
Taxpayers can claim the credit on their federal income tax returns. If the credit exceeds their tax bill, the government will issue a check. Taxpayers will be able to claim the credit on their 2009 income tax return for purchases made in 2010.
Source: The Associated Press (11/5/2009)
