Tax Credit Extension and Expansion (Updates)
The House and the Senate have both passed legislation to extend the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit and to add an additional $6500 for move up buyers provided they have lived in their home for at least 5 years. Home prices were capped at $800,000! This passed quite easily and quickly through both houses and President Obama is expected to sign the bill this week.
This is excellent news for First Time Home Buyers as well as move up buyers. Homes for Sale in Cincinnati have seen a good amount of movement over the summer in large part to this tax credit and while we do not expect this to knock home sales out of the park, we do expect this to continue to move homes through the winter months. Recent reports on sales for october of 2009, show that sales are up comparatively over October of 2008, by 10.21% and the dollar volume is up by 7.84% for October! Add in the current pending closings for November and we could end the year overall in the positive in regards to units sold. Volume in $ will still be down for the year, as buyers have continued to depress prices overall, and that will likely end the year near a 10% deficit over 2008. While this is mixed news, overall it is positive - as the reduction of inventory will help prices to stabilize and perhaps increase if more buyers move into the market.
Check back for updated information as it becomes available!
Chris Wood
Real Estate Consultant
Star One Realtors
chris@chrisjwood.com
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