New Bill Seeks to Extend (and Expand!) the Home Buyer Tax Credit

Having this tax credit has saved 2009.

There will be a small dip in November whether it is extended or not...demand has been accelerated not created.

If it is simply extended, it will be very helpful and will eventually trickle up the price/square footage ranges.

If it is expanded to all incomes and all buyers, it will light a fire for awhile...in demand and then in price.

In a matter of months, maybe a year, it will have sparked demand-pull inflation helping push home prices to a level that will make it that much harder for the median-income family to afford a house. (They already cannot afford one in my market.)

Then we will have another nationwide market problem -- not just in a half dozen states.

Only at that time, the government will have used up all its possible tools....and pushed its own credit even farther past the breaking point.

"Yes" to extending ...and then phasing out.

"No" to expanding.  It might help us, but only temporarily.  The rest of US cannot afford it.

OMG, That would be so wonderful if they pass this bill.  I know that many people will miss thie November 30 deadline because they are waiting to the last minute to buy.   Loans are taking longer to process, so many people could potentially lose out because they close a few days late.  I have been telling everyone to find the home you want by October 15th to be safe.  

I hate inequality - especially along the lines of higher tax rates to the more productive members of our society.  So, along those lines, I fully agree that the income limits should be removed.

However, part of the reason we got in this mess in the first place was the promulgation of the idea that everyone should have an opportunity for home ownership.  So, to put a lid on my elitism, I would recommend that they continue to limit the credit to the first time homebuyer.

As to Jim's comment that the rest of US cannot afford it, there is an argument to be made that we cannot not afford it.  That discussion laying in the positive effects on the economy due to each home sale.  How many trips are made to home depot, how many handymen and landscapers are employed, and so on.  I wish NAR had some statistics on this point.