Does the U.S. housing market need more propping up with a second installment of the homebuyer tax credit? Shaun Donovan, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, isn’t saying yes, but he isn’t saying no, either. According to CNBC’s Diana Olick, there’s a push amongst politicians, particularly in Florida, where the housing market has really gotten pummeled, to recreate the spring’s surge in home sales that was largely attributed to the federal government-supplied boost. While some would argue that the housing market needs to correct itself without an artificial stimulus in order to recover in the long term, Olick says another homebuyer tax credit could clear out some excess inventory quickly. Still, the official word from HUD is that “there are no discussions underway to revive the credit.” [CNBC]
Posts Tagged ‘homebuyer tax credit’
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Does the U.S. housing market need more propping up with a second installment of the homebuyer tax credit? Shaun Donovan, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, isn’t saying yes, but he isn’t saying no, either. According to CNBC’s Diana Olick, there’s a push amongst politicians, particularly in Florida, where the housing market has really gotten pummeled, to recreate the spring’s surge in home sales that was largely attributed to the federal government-supplied boost. While some would argue that the housing market needs to correct itself without an artificial stimulus in order to recover in the long term, Olick says another homebuyer tax credit could clear out some excess inventory quickly. Still, the official word from HUD is that “there are no discussions underway to revive the credit.” [CNBC]
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Does the U.S. housing market need more propping up with a second installment of the homebuyer tax credit? Shaun Donovan, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, isn’t saying yes, but he isn’t saying no, either. According to CNBC’s Diana Olick, there’s a push amongst politicians, particularly in Florida, where the housing market has really gotten pummeled, to recreate the spring’s surge in home sales that was largely attributed to the federal government-supplied boost. While some would argue that the housing market needs to correct itself without an artificial stimulus in order to recover in the long term, Olick says another homebuyer tax credit could clear out some excess inventory quickly. Still, the official word from HUD is that “there are no discussions underway to revive the credit.” [CNBC]
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U.S. existing home sales tumbled last month to their lowest levels in more than a decade, according to a monthly r [more]
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The summer’s downturn in U.S. home sales is often attributed to the expiration of the first-time homebuyer tax credit, which inflated demand prior to its deadline for signed contracts at the end of April. But according to CNBC’s Diana Olick, that’s not the whole story. She cites a sharp drop in home sales in San Francisco during the month of July — to their lowest level in 15 years — as evidence that the tax credit’s expiration could not possibly account for the lull altogether. The median price of a home in that region is $402,000, and most buyers in that price range wouldn’t even have qualified for the tax credit, she notes. The heart of the problem, she argues, is “a startling lack of confidence.” A recent report from Zillow.com said that one-third of all U.S. homeowners don’t believe the housing market has bottomed yet, and another from Trulia.com revealed that fewer renters than ever are planning to become homeowners. [CNBC]
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The summer’s downturn in U.S. home sales is often attributed to the expiration of the first-time homebuyer tax credit, which inflated demand prior to its deadline for signed contracts at the end of April. But according to CNBC’s Diana Olick, that’s not the whole story. She cites a sharp drop in home sales in San Francisco during the month of July — to their lowest level in 15 years — as evidence that the tax credit’s expiration could not possibly account for the lull altogether. The median price of a home in that region is $402,000, and most buyers in that price range wouldn’t even have qualified for the tax credit, she notes. The heart of the problem, she argues, is “a startling lack of confidence.” A recent report from Zillow.com said that one-third of all U.S. homeowners don’t believe the housing market has bottomed yet, and another from Trulia.com revealed that fewer renters than ever are planning to become homeowners. [CNBC]
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The upward trend in home prices solidified in the second quarter of 2010 with more metropolitan areas showing increases from a year ago, aided by a rise in home sales driven by the homebuyer tax credit, according to a survey released today by the National Association of Realtors. In the second quarter, 100 out of 155 metropolitan areas — including New York City, Miami and Fort Lauderdale — had higher median existing single-family home prices compared to the second quarter of 2009. Total existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, rose 9.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million in the second quarter from 5.14 million in the first quarter.
“All year we’ve been seeing relatively flat national home prices,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. He noted that many recorded home prices were significantly depressed last year because of distressed homes sold at discount. “Now, as more normal, non-distressed home sales are occurring, the median price in many areas is showing higher values,” Yun added. “Prices in some areas remain below replacement construction costs, so even with an elevated supply of existing homes on the market we don’t expect any consequential movement in home prices for the foreseeable future.” TRD
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Legislation that would restore a Department of Agriculture homebuying program is headed to President Barack Obama’s desk for signature, one of the nation’s last sources of no money down financing for home loans, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the National Association of Realtors, the legislation makes the department’s Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program self-sufficient. Borrowers will have to pay a higher “guarantee fee” of 3.5 percent, but the fee can be folded into the mortgage. Agriculture department loans were particularly popular this year as first-time homebuyers tapped the government’s federal homebuyer tax credit, which expires Sept. 30. Despite the last-minute save for borrowers in the program, industry watchers haven’t stopped criticizing these zero-down deals, given the role they played in the housing crash. But, the program is considered safer because up to 90 percent of the purchase amount is guaranteed, meaning the agency will pay if the borrower defaults. [WSJ]
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It’s official: the homebuyer tax credit closing deadline has been extended. President Obama signed into law today HR 5623, which gives homebuyers who were under contract by April 30 until Sept. 30 to close their purchases and claim their federal tax credit. The bill passed in the House Tuesday and in the Senate Wednesday. The original closing deadline was June 30. [Inman News]
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Nearly 1,300 incarcerated prisoners — 241 of whom were serving life sentences — were among those who received the popular federal homebuyer tax credit nationwide, according to a report released today by the Treasury Inspector G [more]
