This has to end at some point - We need the economy to function on its own & adjust. Terrible idea

I don't think this is a good idea. I'm reading all over the place that there's been some sort of recovery, the recession is over, and things are looking up. Extending and expanding the credit flies in the face of all that positive speak. I think this deal has more to do with politicians wanting to get re-elected or look good as opposed to actually helping the economy. I think a much better idea would be to give everyone a credit on their taxes. This is money they can go out and spend to get demand moving again.

Hey Wall St and Car companies here's your gobs of billions so you can pay bonuses. As for housing, we realize you're on life support so have some Robotussin and call me in 6 months.

what about home owners that have been in their home for 4 consecutive years. why can't they go back and say home owners who purchase their home between 2000-2008 and still living in that home can get the tax credit

Recession isn't over yet. GDP growth was driven by Cash for Clinkers and other govt "stimulus". When that money runs out then we'll see the true economy.

what is this "The reduced credit would be available to all home buyers who have been in their current residence for a consecutive five-year period in the past eight years,"....will it be available to all first time home buyers whether they lived in one apartment for 2 years 2nd for 2 and 3rd for 1 year or not....I don't understand this...

For those of us who live in resort areas where most of the buyers are buying second homes ... hooray! There are plenty of starving realtors on Cape Cod who will applaud any credit for all the second home buyers ... though I think the 5 year requirement is a bit excessive and a little discriminatory ... Why not 3 or 4 years? WHat about those who have had to move most recently to keep their jobs?

Anonymous, I quoted The Wall Street Journal on that point because the requirement seemed very ... er ... specific. The Associated Press, on the other hand, is simply reporting that repeat buyers have to have "owned their current homes for at least five years."

Sure, why not? The higher you fly, the harder you fall. I'll just sit back and wait a bit longer for the inevitable carnage - will be a bit more tenderized after the harder landing.

My wife and I are looking at our second home purchase closer to my employer (60+ miles away) - however we have only been in our home 3 and 1/2 years... I really wished this program, if approved, would allow for any second time home buyers that has not already participated in the "first time home buyer tax credit", even if it was phased out based on how long you had owned your home. For example 5 years = 6500, 4 = 5500, 3 years = 4500, etc...

I think it should pass. I bought a house 5 years ago and now it's worth way less then what i owe. My husband has never bought a home and can't get the tax break because i bought one before we were married. Our plan is to rent the old one and buy a new. How is that fair to him. He had nothing to do with the house that i purchased 5 years ago. We want to help the economy and take advantage of this tax credit but the government always wants to screw the people that are helping themselves. I just don't see how it's fair.

I am very frustrated because I don't fit into either category. I owned a year and a half ago and moved home to be near family. Now I want to buy again and won't benefit from the old tax credit or the new one. I should be included in this benefit too. I think if you have a home currently, how is this really helping the economy and filling empty houses. I am renting and want to purchase; I deserve a tax credit too.

The government should just give us all money to buy homes, whether we need it all not. In fact, we should get money for cars, cloths, vegas vacations and a couple of Gulfstream jets. Why not? Anything to help these industries, and the american economy. There's never going to be a day of reckoning, certainly not during my time in public office.

We are neither first time homebuyers nor do we currently own a home.. We took a big hit when we relocated two years ago on our house that we sold. We are renters right now. So if you want to stimulate the economy we should get tax breaks before those who already own. Where do we fit in??

Reading some of these comments have made me sick to my stomach. Too many people looking for a handout. I'm right there with Darwin Rules, just riding it out waiting for the inevitable drop after all these "prop up the housing market" shenanigans are over and done with.

Agree Kevin - what a bunch of whiners. Our government has castrated the unwashed masses. Sickening. Ya'll go ahead and shuffle over to your flat screens so you don't miss Dancing with the Stars, now...

Even though I could potentially benefit from the first-time buyer credit, I don't think it's a good decision. As others pointed out, this is just prolonging the agony. Now the prices won't fall (read - adjust to the realistic level) for another year or so, but they will fall after all the tricks end eventually.

Sadly, we really have to move soon and, as a result of this credit, now we'll have to face higher prices and, possibly, bidding wars. And extending the credit to even more people is just plain stupid. I agree that it seems to be more about re-election than economy.

It actually looks like the politicians and bankers want to extort the last money from the people who still have any left for downpayment and then bankrupt them when the prices fall, like the rest of the country.

To those whining that they can't get in on the credit - where do you think this money is coming from? From your own pockets!

I just made settlement on 9/4/09 and have previously owned a home for at least ten years. Would this 6500 tax credit be retroactive? It doesn't seem fair if it is not. I would use it to improve the house like everyone else which would hopefully stimulate the economy.

This 5 year thing is crap. My wife has owned her house for 3 years and I've owned mine for 3 years. Combined we've got 6 years of home ownership. We are looking to buy a house and would have liked to have had the credit.

How does this help us ? It doesn't.

We'll be paying for this tax credit for many years. We should be entitled to it...

People like JB and BigDragon need to come out West and see what it's like trying to sell a home in the Phoenix area. Prices have fallen back almost to where they were in the aftermath of the S&L crisis of the late '80s to early '90s.

So if you happen to be someone trying to sell a home that you bought less than 15 years ago, you're at a break even point at best, and if you bought after 2000, you are either underwater, or faced with getting much less than you paid for it, perhaps losing more than half of your investment.

The median price in Metro Phoenix market is now $131,100 and falling. There is no other incentive out there to buy a new tract home, since construction is so slow that any new home you buy will be surrounded by empty dirt lots for years to come. Who wants tumbleweeds for neighbors in a subdivision that may or may not ever be completely built out?

And resales? An existing homeowner seeking to relocate, upsize, or downsize is competing against repos and short sales as low as $40,000 for a 1,400 sq ft 1970s ranch style house.

Yes it was messed up that so many people got caught up in the bubble and bought beyond their means, but now it affects everyone.

I say extend the FTB credit, add 2nd time buyers, and do it yesterday.

To be quite honest, we are planning on buying anyway, regardless of tax credit... However! If they're going to be handing out money anyway, we're going to be paying for it, why should we be excluded?

We're just going to take that money and dump it right back into the economy by buying goods and services for our new house. Excluding people like us who will SPEND the money instead of BANKING it is a terrible idea.

Either open it up to everyone, or shut it down and block everyone.

At last our politicians comprehend that not only does E-Verify--WORK--to oust illegal immigrants from the all businesses, but 54 members of the Congress support the 287 G program that was nearly buried under political baseness. So this insures two very active immigration enforcement programs are firmly entrenched to remove illegal aliens, without mass deportation. As on hiring, a new worker they must concede a verification of there national status. E-VERIFY MUST BECOME A PERMANENT PROGRAM TO VET THE ELIGIBILITY EVERY US WORKER. They say that ignorance is bliss, but this issue has been elongated by years of unceasing pressure by the hierarchy of business concerns, so that lawmakers have turned a blind eye to the annual illegal alien rush across our seemingly undermanned border. Even the main border fence was arbitrated, by being under-funded so illegal workers could slip past vehicle barriers, open areas that was substituted for the two separate- spaced-fences? Simply speaking it’s all an underhand close relationship with corporate organizations and radical open border extremists, who don't want any prohibitions on the millions of beggared workers and families slipping into America. Once--even Sen. Harry Reid was adverse to illegal immigration, but once he entered the bastions of Washington where corruption is rampant from associating with business groups and foundation lobbyists.To survive you must adhere to their ideology or become ostracized by other Democratic or Conservative members in these chambers of iniquity. USE YOUR VOTING POWER TO DEMAND E-VERIFY AS A COMPREHENSIVE AUTHENTICATION DATA BASE. It could be used when issuing drivers licenses, transportation insurance, house buyers tax credits, real estate applications for legal residents, health care and other issues subject to fraud?

In this final version of the House health care package, is a summary clause to verify that only citizens and legal residents can participate? It could establish a apparatus by which the Commissioner must authenticate that individuals are citizens or legal immigrants in order to receive afford ability credits for health care. Of course emergency health care treatment access will still be there for those individuals without legal documentation? But Madam Nancy Pelosi still wants to reward illegal immigrants, making them eligible, without a verification mechanism in place; illegal aliens could receive credits under the plan. Every American should show their support for these amendments, without--ANY--avenue to illegal immigrants by commanding their Representative in Washington at 202-224-3121. After any House-Senate bill goes to the floor and voted on; they still have to clear the obstacles in most closed-door conferences. This is where the wheeling and corrupt dealing goes on, with what the membership calls "Sweeteners." This is where political favors are exchanged, promising such sweeteners such as pork for their constituencies, campaign contributions, from corporate execs, or undisclosed gifts of money or family vacations.

These are where immigration laws are passed or indifferently discarded to the disadvantage of THE PEOPLE. Its sad travesty, but it’s the raw facts of legislative playtime in committee. Then there is the H-1B working visa game? H-1B has been full of fraud and hypocrisy since its inception. With corporate attorneys giving devious advice of how to cheat the foreign labor importation system by the labor Department.125,000 brand new work permits to foreign nationals was issued last month. Watch a U-Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU video of an attorney with the law firm of Cohen & Grigsby discussing how a company can turn at H-1B worker into a permanent Green Card holder. His comments demonstrate the disposition behind the entire process: "Their goal is clearly not to find a highly skilled H-1B immigrant, because cheap labor is plentiful in poor foreign nations willing to come to America. It's just another working visa program for supposedly PhD and top of the business ladder absolutely copious with sleaze TODAY IS THE DAY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CORRUPTION AND COMPROMISE BY OUR POLITICANS AT NUMBERSUSA, JUDICIAL WATCH & CAPSWEB. SAY NO TO ANY NEW PATH TO CITIZENSHIP. ADD HONEST AMENDMENTS TO THE 1986 SIMPSON/MAZZOLI BILL, NOT ANOTHER COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION BILL, THAT WAS OVERFLOWING WITH FRAUD.

I might add to my earlier post that even at these fire sale prices, the credit markets are so tight & job prospects so uncertain, the supply so out of balance, and the rental market so saturated that sales are still slow with more foreclosures coming every day. We have been trying to sell our old house (after buying a better one) for five months now with no luck, even after cutting the price to nearly half of what the market price was at the height of the boom, which puts us near break even on a home we've owned since 1997.

Don't know how it is in the Baltimore area, but over the past few decades, 30% of the Phoenix economy has run on growth and real estate development. Every thing from construction, title companies, real estate sales, commercial development to follow along behind residential, offices, shopping, car dealers, furniture & appliance stores, restaurants, etc, etc.

Hello? We're in a classic Keynesian liquidity trap here.

One might ask, well why don't you rent it out until prices recover? We would, but this house has so many upgrades and the downside risk of the place being trashed by a bad tenant, this house being in a neighborhood that has gone downhill in quality, that we would rather keep it empty and listed for sale than have some low life come in and do $20,000 worth of damage that we would have to eat as a loss. And believe me, we have seen that happen again and again.

Jeremy,
Wouldn't it be easier to just mail everyone $8,000 checks? I see absolutely no problem with this. It is fair, and no hassles with paperwork, accountants, etc. Then we can all stimulate the economy!! Yay!! The more I think about it, I really cannot see any downside of this whatsoever. Not one. It seems perfect!! But...there is that old saying about 'no such thing as a free lunch"...hmmmm...Can anyone tell me what I am missing here?

How about we stop propping up everything and let the pain begin? Schadenfreude for all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By the way, how much does Chinese Rosetta Stone cost?

Steve thanks for adding this: "I might add to my earlier post that even at these fire sale prices, the credit markets are so tight & job prospects so uncertain, the supply so out of balance, and the rental market so saturated that sales are still slow with more foreclosures coming every day."

These are exactly the reasons for NOT propping up prices by dipping into everyone else's pocket for tax credit money.

Phoenix has a lot to sort out for itself. Good luck.

I think if people really UNDERSTOOD the true beneficiaries of this HANDOUT - they would in no way want it. The problem is - PEOPLE ARE IGNORANT. They will continue to buy houses they cannot afford and aren't worth it - electing to pay lots of interest to a bank for many years to come- and when they want to sell their new home in 5 to 10 years they will only be able to sell the house for about 1/2 the amount of the outstanding mortgage. What do you people think will happen when the handouts stop and interest rates go up? The answer - PRICES WILL CRATER!!

DONT FALL FOR IT!!! Just a helpful suggestion from someone who cares.

Regards,

PAUL

Will it be good on a second home purchase or just sell one house and buy another house?

As it stands now, the credit for repeat buys would only go to buyers getting a new primary residence. But they wouldn't be required to sell their old home.

Owning a home is like running a small business. The community benefits from taxes and utilities. They give tax incentives to draw businesses into the economy why not a repeat or new home buyer?

I don't think we should offer either credit. If you can a house right now good for you. That must mean you can afford to does so. So why do you need a credit for then? What about the people who bought their home in 2007 and the value when down and one of the owners loss their job. What about those people. I know a lot of those kind of people.

I think the idea is to reduce the inventory of homes for sale so that our home values can stop dropping so fast. It is better to give a tax credit to home buyers, rather than more bailouts for Wall Street and the banking industry.

Not as bad as bailing out Fannie, Freddie, big banks, and bad car companies, but still costly to the taxpayers. I'm sick of paying for the stupidity of others!

My comment today is about the repeat home tax credit. WHY IS THE PERIOD of time so short for the repeat buyers. Noverber to June2010. We purchased a home in July of 2009 and again don't quilfiy.