If you're a potential homebuyer or homeseller and you don't know already, the US Senate unanimously approved an admendment (proposed by Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson) to the stimulas package on Wednesday.
This amendment would allow anyone who buys a home in 2009 to receive a tax credit of 10 percent of the value of the home the buy, up to a $15,000 limit. This means that if you buy a home that costs more than $150,000, you will receive a $15,000 gift from Uncle Sam! If your new home costs less than $150,000, you will receive a credit for 10% of the purchase price of your home (i.e. a $120,000 home will allow for a $1,200 tax credit). Read more on this story here...
SHOULD THIS PASS, THIS IS TRULY A HISTORIC EVENT FOR THE HOUSING INDUSTRY!
Regardless of how you feel about the stimulus package as a whole, this is certainly a part of the package that can benefit you greatly as it relates to buying a new home (and will subsequently benefit sellers who are eager to sell their home).
As you may remember from last fall (covered in my blog on 8/2/08 - click here to visit that article), the current law provides for a $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers only - and it has to be re-paid over a 15-year period. This new law would allow ANYONE who purchases a home to receive up to $15,000...and it never has to be re-paid!!! It's cash in your pocket - to do with as you please!
This comes after a very good December in national real estate news. Hard to believe, huh? Well, let's see how January & February (two of the traditionally slowest months in real estate) perform.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the Pending Home Sales Index for December 2008 (based on the number of contracts signed for that month), rose 6.3%, to a level that is 2.1% higher than it was in December of 2007.
Also, even more noteworthy, the NAR's Housing Affordability index (which shows the relationship between home prices, mortgage interest rates and family income) rose 10.9 percent in December to a value of 158.8. This value is THE HIGHEST ON RECORD since the statistics began in 1970!!! This indicates that homes have never been more affordable (at least since 1970) than they are today. See the full article here... With home prices as low as they can be and interest rates lower than they've ever been before, homes simply can't be any more affordable!
Is the economy weak now? Yes. Is housing looking more promising as each day passes? Potentially. January & February will be pivotal - let's see how it goes...
If you have any questions, please feel free to call or e-mail me!
Comments(0)