President Obama signed the $24 Billion stimulus plan
into law today which included the home buyer tax credit extension. Notice I did not say “First time home buyer”? That’s because it’s not just an extension of the existing credit, it’s also an expansion to include move up or repeat home buyers as well.
Here are the details, first time home buyers still get up to $8,000, repeat home buyers get up to $6,500 and the limits for income requirements have been raised as well. Buyers have until April 30th 2010 to enter into a binding contract to get this credit and until July 1st 2010 to close that transaction.
We expected a good chance that the tax credit would be extended however we also expected that if it wasn’t extended we would see another small dip in the market in the winter after it expired. With this extension and expansion I think we’ll still see a small seasonal dip in the market (which is normal) but not anything more. Also, considering this tax credit expires just after the beginning of the home selling season next year, there’s a good chance we could now see steady increases in market activity and smaller inventories between now and September-October of 2010.
While we’re not exactly fans of “free money” from Uncle Sam (it’s not free!), we certainly do see that this does positively effect the real estate market and are happy to see it extended; for now.
~Scott McDonald – Your Portland Real Estate Agent
Tags: $6500 home buyer tax credit expansion, $8000 home buyer tax credit extension