Possible September 2010 Extension to Home Buyer Credit

Posted on 16. Jun, 2010 by lmp in Blog

Possible September 2010 Extension to Home Buyer Credit as Builders and Home Owners Struggle to Complete Home Transactions by June 30 2010 Tax Credit Deadline

Construction crews are working around the clock to meet tight deadlines to finish houses by the end of June so purchasers can get a federal home buyer tax credit of as much as $8,000. Home buyers are similarly anxious to get settlement on an existing house or the keys to the new home before the credit expiry date. To qualify, home buyers had to sign a contract by April 30 (intention to buy) and must complete the transaction by July 1st (June 30 is the last eligible day). To complete a newly constructed home sale, builders in most of the U.S. are required to have a certificate of occupancy from local officials attesting the house is finished or at least conforms to building codes. Mortgage lenders usually require the document before closing on a loan.

Get Your FICO ScoreWith all the hoopla around claiming the credit and a strong push from various realtor groups, Bloomberg reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proposed a three-month deadline extension amid concern that a rush of buyers created too big of a backlog. New-home contracts rose 30 percent in March and 15 percent in April, the biggest two-month gain in records dating to 1963, according to the Commerce Department. About a third of the April signings were for homes under construction, and a quarter were for those that weren’t started. The National Association of Realtors asked members of Congress to consider extending the tax credit deadline to allow people more time to complete sales, said Lucien Salvant, head of public affairs for the Chicago-based trade group. Reid, a Nevada Democrat whose state has been among the nation’s worst-hit housing markets, proposed moving the date to Sept. 30 2010.

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