Greenwich yawns at homebuyer tax credit

Greenwich, Conn., brokers are seemingly unconcerned with whether the extension of the first-time homebuyer tax credit is approved, as they say the federal incentive program has done little to spur the housing market in the region. Higher-than-the-national-average home prices are noted as a key factor in diluting the tax credit’s efficacy in Greenwich, where just 20 percent of the overall inventory has an asking price below $1 million. “Nobody has asked me about it and it has never come up,” Maxwell Wiesen, a broker with Coldwell Banker, said. “Given the pricing in Greenwich being what it is, it would have no effect whatsoever.” Yesterday, the senate voted to approve the somewhat-modified program to be extended through April 30, 2010. The house is expected to approve the extension as well.