It took a while for the Senate to hammer out an agreement on the home buyer tax credit, but only a day for the House to pass an identical measure. President Barack Obama is expected to
sign it into law today.
The National Association of Realtors says the new provisions -- a longer time frame for the $8,000 first-time buyer credit, higher income limits and a $6,500 credit for certain repeat buyers -- will go into effect as soon as pen hits paper. The trade group has a handy "compare the tax credits" chart that you can find here.
You can also read more about the details on yesterday's tax-credit blog post.
The first-time buyer tax credit, hailed by the real estate industry as a stabilizing force for the battered housing market, has its critics. They say it's a lot of money, much of it going to people who probably would have bought anyway and some of it going to tax cheats (including 19,000 who didn't actually purchase a home). Some of you have said you think it's a stimulus that won't help in the long run.
In this running Wonk poll, I asked you a simple question about the bill: Thumbs up, down or sideways? The voting was overwhelmingly thumbs up at first. But as of last night, the results were split: 49 percent down, 47 percent up and 4 percent sideways.
I chatted yesterday with Heather Fernandez, vice president of marketing with real estate search engine Trulia. She's enthusiastic about the soon-to-be-law, though not without reservations. One reason to cheer, she said, is that consumers pump money into the economy after buying a home ($30,000 within the first six months on items ranging from furniture to hot water heaters, Trulia found in a study last year). She also thinks the credits will help move more foreclosures and cushion prices in the short term.
There's a significant "but," though: "What happens to real estate demand on May 1?" Fernandez asks. April 30 is the last day you can sign a contract and still qualify for the first-time or repeat-buyer tax credits.
"While this may spur tremendous activity in the short term, what's going to stop demand from dropping off a cliff?" she said.
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