Ms.Havasu
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How about some positive news for a change:beer
JUL 31, 2008
Realty Times
With home sales and prices down and unsold inventory up in many areas, the real estate market could use a jolt of good news -- and Congress just provided it.
The massive, 690-page housing bill just approved on Capitol Hill has plenty of mortgage-related provisions in it, but it also has an important stimulus program designed to jump-start housing sales: It's a tax credit, effective immediately, that could cut up to $7,500 off the federal tax return of anyone who buys a house before the end of next June, when it expires.
Buyers have to be first-time purchasers, or renters who haven't owned a house anytime in the past three years. The "credit" is actually more like an interest free loan, repayable over 15 years. Single taxpayers can only qualify for a $3,750 maximum credit. But it still puts thousands of after-tax dollars of incentives into home purchases -- money that wasn't there before.
Starting this week, hundreds of thousands of potential buyers who've been on the sidelines can purchase a new or resale house and qualify for the credit. The National Association of Realtors estimates that up to two million sales could be stimulated by the credit in the coming 11 months, and the National Association of Home Builders anticipates a "multiplier effect" in the move-up segment of the market.
That's because people who sell houses to buyers using the credit will then often need to go out and find replacement homes for themselves -- effectively rippling the impact of the credit upstream, triggering even more sales.
Since there's no Congressional limit on how many buyers can take advantage of the new incentive, it could prove to be huge. It all depends on whether Realtors, builders and individual sellers educate potential buyers about how to factor the credit into affording a new home.
In other economic news this week, mortgage rates jumped to their highest level in nearly a year, 6.6 percent for 30-year fixed rate conventional loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America.
On the plus side, the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment survey -- a key economic barometer affecting consumers' willingness to spend - rose a surprising five points last month.
And still another surprise: The national home ownership rate -- defying all gloom and doom predictions -- jumped to 68.1 percent in the latest quarter, up from 67.8 percent.
Copyright © 2008 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved
JUL 31, 2008
Realty Times
With home sales and prices down and unsold inventory up in many areas, the real estate market could use a jolt of good news -- and Congress just provided it.
The massive, 690-page housing bill just approved on Capitol Hill has plenty of mortgage-related provisions in it, but it also has an important stimulus program designed to jump-start housing sales: It's a tax credit, effective immediately, that could cut up to $7,500 off the federal tax return of anyone who buys a house before the end of next June, when it expires.
Buyers have to be first-time purchasers, or renters who haven't owned a house anytime in the past three years. The "credit" is actually more like an interest free loan, repayable over 15 years. Single taxpayers can only qualify for a $3,750 maximum credit. But it still puts thousands of after-tax dollars of incentives into home purchases -- money that wasn't there before.
Starting this week, hundreds of thousands of potential buyers who've been on the sidelines can purchase a new or resale house and qualify for the credit. The National Association of Realtors estimates that up to two million sales could be stimulated by the credit in the coming 11 months, and the National Association of Home Builders anticipates a "multiplier effect" in the move-up segment of the market.
That's because people who sell houses to buyers using the credit will then often need to go out and find replacement homes for themselves -- effectively rippling the impact of the credit upstream, triggering even more sales.
Since there's no Congressional limit on how many buyers can take advantage of the new incentive, it could prove to be huge. It all depends on whether Realtors, builders and individual sellers educate potential buyers about how to factor the credit into affording a new home.
In other economic news this week, mortgage rates jumped to their highest level in nearly a year, 6.6 percent for 30-year fixed rate conventional loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America.
On the plus side, the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment survey -- a key economic barometer affecting consumers' willingness to spend - rose a surprising five points last month.
And still another surprise: The national home ownership rate -- defying all gloom and doom predictions -- jumped to 68.1 percent in the latest quarter, up from 67.8 percent.
Copyright © 2008 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved
