While the passing of this credit is still to come,according to the Wall Street Journal, the Senate reached a compromise on extending and expanding the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers. The terms of the new agreement are as follows:
- Extend the first time buyer credit worth up to $8k (read about the current program)
- Offer a new credit of up to $6,500 for existing homeowners given the home buyer has lived in their current residence for 5 out of the last 8 years (consecutively)
- Raise the qualifying income limits to $125k for single taxpayers and $250k for joint taxpayers (Current is $75k and $150k)
- Have sales agreements April 30,2010 and close by June 30, 2010
This isn’t a done deal, this agreement still faces votes in the Senate and the House. Increasing the duration of this program will certainly continue to help sales of homes under $400k. Adding the credit to existing homeowners should help stimulate the “trade up” market.
For the first time home buyer I think we’ve gotten all the bang out of this program that we’re going to get. You can only pull demand forward once, then it’s over. Now, for the move up buyer we can pull demand forward. But again, all these government shenanigans aren’t really changing anything. Once it’s over demand is going to dive – just like cash for clunkers.
completely agree. completely boggles my mind that the administration continues to pass this sort of garbage