I would like to see the tax credit extended. I also had houses snatched out from under me in my area. One thought is that with the tax credit the buyer is forced to not negotiate prices with the sellers a bidding war. Also finding a good realtor has made this a difficult venture. Realtors that represent the seller I think are encouraging the seller to take the best offer and not the first offer. For the single women or parents it has really caused the race for your price range to become a marathon. I would rather see the tax credit extended as to see the government give more welfare to those that sit and not work and expect a handout.

I would hope the tax credit get's extended for the nation's good, as it will help homeowners. I am not a home owner, so from my point of view it would be just as good for me if it is not extended as the value of homes will fall drastically late summer. Then, I may be able to purchase a home, and get out of my old run down, mobile home with it's rusty roof, leaky windows, worn and patched floors, and siding that blows off in high winds. SOS LOL

I'm in San Diego and as a buyer, I'm so happy that this tax credit has finally expired. It does nothing for the buyers and only benefits seller, because everyone's using that money to bid up the prices. Housing prices went up and a faster paces as more people scramble to buy - and that $8000 is really given to the sellers (and banks!) This is another subsidy to those who have.

It's was already extended once, ENOUGH!
There is always going to be some idiot of was disorganized and waited to the last minute.

That's their own fault. You've had TWO YEARS!

miss clavel is exactly right. I've seen home prices in my neighborhood shoot up over 30k since this rotten credit was introduced. I hate to call these happy buyers idiots for feeling like they got a good steal from us taxpayers, but they are. They're likely paying a premium on the houses that they are purchasing far larger than the $8k they're taking from our govt. Classic incentives promoting rational (but stupid) naivete.

We've actually seen prices drop over the last two months here in Florida. It feels like nearly 90% of all homes for sale are either foreclosures or short sales. My wife and I have a contract on a short sale for about half of what the current owner paid only 3 years ago. Now the hard part might be closing before June 30th.

I also hope it is extended. I first started my goal of buying a house in 2007 and since then the laws keep changing regarding lending and had to do a lot of work to qualify. In the past 3 years I got my credit score go up over 100 points but with so many people making offers right now, once I finally got a loan approval, it was basically too late. It does kind of suck watching everyone I know take advantage of the credit and to know I did everything I could but I wasn't able to get it. I still want to buy, and all the work was not for nothing but, still I am hoping they will come out with a 2010 version of the credit at least by the end of this summer to keep the program going for awhile longer. I am curious to see what will happen over the next 3 -6 months. In the mean time I guess I will continue renting :(

M.R.
you should thank your lucky stars. An $8K tax credit will look like peanuts compared to what you will save in another 12-18 months --- just make sure you save for a sizeable down payment.

I think it is a good idea to re-extend. Homes are cheap, but people have destroyed the insides of these homes. So, even if you get into a home, you are going to have to spend thousands in repairs. Not only does the credit help with home repairs, but it puts money back in corporate America and Uncle Sams pocket via Taxes. It is a win win!

Jamie I would have LOVED to see the tax credit extended. It really did help the housing market during its existence however it also gave people not involved in the industry on a day to day basis like we are (the real estate agents) and I feel it gave Americans a false sense of hope that the housing market was improving.

Well, it was, while that tax credit was in existence, however, take a look at the statistics now since the credit expired and you can see the decline happening again.

In my opinion, the government needs to pay more attention on putting pressure on the banks to work with current homeowners that have current homes underwater and/or behind in their payments and get these loans current again and KEEP the people in their homes. Do a little digging regarding the money that was given to the banks to help homeowners and you will be disgusted to find out only a small percentage has actually been used to date for the purpose the money was intended for.

Amy,

You are correct that the tax credit gave the market a false sense of hope. Foreclosures have continued to increase. In fact, this year will break another record in foreclosures. How can the market truly recover if foreclosures are still increasing? The short answer, it can't.

The only way the foreclosure crisis would have ended is if the "too big to fail" were allowed to fail. If the banks were forced into a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, their toxic assets would have been purchased by a healthy stronger bank for pennies on the dollar. For example, if a bad bank had 100 billion in toxic non-performing assets, that paper could have been bought for 10 billion. The new bank could have rewritten the assets to 20 billion and still doubled their money. The new bank also could have reduced the interest rate to whatever they want.

The idea is not rocket science. The Bankruptcy system has proven effective for companies that are insolvent. And yes, the banks are still insolvent. The only reason the banks are reporting profits is because of the change in accounting rules. They are no longer accounting these assets "mark to market". Instead, these toxic assets are reflecting their face value, which we all know is fantasy.

If the new healthy banks were able to buy these assets and restructure them voluntarily so they would become "performing loans", the foreclosure crisis would have stopped already. Sure, there would still be people who would lose their home due to loss of income or employment status. The strategic defaulter would also no longer be an issue as their underwater home would have been marked down to current market value. It would have been a win-win, except for the banks that should have failed. Also, that would not have required a dime in taxpayer money.

Instead, we were lead to believe that the system was going to collapse. That was a bunch of BS. As we all know, the banking lobby would not allow that to happen. The banks have too much power and money.

How did we all do after the S&L crisis when THOUSANDS of banks were allowed to fail?