Today's Sac Business Journal reports today that... According to a California Assoiation of Realtors survey, 40 percent of first-time buyers would not have purchased a home without the tax credit. They go on to state that the IRS counts 1.4 million people taking advantage of the credit with more than 10% of the credits (about [...]
Just a reminder to all of our agents and clients that (though there is talk of an extention) there is not a lot of time left to use the first time home buyer credit. Kim Carlson, Branch Manager commented earlier today "We are advising our agents and clients that escrow must begin by October 15th [...]
There is a fight looming in congress currently to extend the $8000 credit for first time home buyers (FTHBs). Though it was originally intended to jumpstart a resolution to the housing crisis, many now wonder if it must be kept in place to carry the "housing recovery" into a safe momentum. More from the New [...]
Just in case you missed the article in the Sacramento Bee about median home prices, I thought I would post a note about it here. The bottom line is that everyone seems to be getting on board (even the media!) with the idea that first time home buyers are be offered what may be the [...]
The Sacramento Business Journal is reporting that legistlation sponsored by the California Building Industry Association would extend the $10,000 new construction credit. More than half of the money for the program has been used in the first two months.The tax credit was enacted to pay up to $10,000 or 5 percent of the purchase price [...]
NOTE: Lenders are still trying to figure out how and if they will participate in this program. We'll keep you posted as we get updates. Just in case you didn't hear yesterday, the Obama administration has worked to encourage HUD to permit the use of the $8000 new home buyer tax credit as a downpayment. [...]
69% worry about the price of homes going up soon 85% think homes are “affordable” 68% think it’s a better time to buy than 6 months ago Nearly half don’t know about the $8000 tax credit Whether they knew before the survey or not, 77% said that the $8000 credit made them more willing/interested in [...]
Sacramento's Public Radio (Capital Public Radio) reports that home buyers are snatching up $10,000 tax credits at a faster than expected rate. By April 1, 2009 more than 26% of the available funds have been utilized. The state expects that they may even run out of funds by the end of summer! Listen to the [...]
Interesting note that supports our views on the unlikelihood of rates moving much lower - last Friday, Jack Koskinen, interim chief executive of Freddie Mac, said that home loan rates are near the bottom and that any further decreases will be small. Mr. Koskinen commented on mortgage rates after he attended the meeting between President [...]