CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Nobody wants to buy a house. Nobody in their right mind, anyway.
Oh, sure, a lot of gullible first-time buyers got lured into the market over the last 18 months to take advantage of an $8,000 federal tax credit (not realizing how little difference that money will make when the first property-tax bill [...]
CNBC: That heady buzz from the home buyer tax credit is now turning into a grinding headache, as home sellers realize their very temporary, government-induced catbird seat has now fallen back to earth.
As of July 1st, 24 percent of sellers on the market had cut their asking prices at least once, according to Trulia.com.
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Congress Extends Homebuyer Tax Credit and Flood Insurance-
The U.S. Senate passed 2 bills last evening previously passed by the House. Both bills still need President Obama’s signature to become a law, but that’s expected to happen quickly.
Homebuyer Tax Credit-
The Senate passed HR 5623, which extends the mandatory closing date to qualify for the homebuyer tax [...]
Reuters: Refinancing drove total U.S. mortgage applications to an eight-month peak, as loan rates fell to or near record lows, but demand to buy homes sank toward 13-year lows last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.
The U.S. housing market continued to deflate after a spring sales spree, fueled by now-expired federal tax credits [...]
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The experts expected home sales to drop once the homebuyer tax credit lapsed at the end of April, but the depth of the decrease was shocking.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), pending home sales fell a whopping 30% in May. Their index, which measures signed sales contracts but not [...]
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to give first-time homebuyers three more months to close on their purchases and land an $8,000 federal income tax credit.
But the Senate had better act fast – the deadline is currently Wednesday.
The bill doesn’t help anyone currently shopping for a home. Buyers must have signed [...]
U.S. mortgage rates dropped in the past week, with 30-year fixed-rate loans tumbling to their lowest level in 39 years, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company.
Interest rates on 15-year fixed-rate and hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages dropped to fresh lows as well. While low rates and high affordability [...]
Palm Beach Post: The nation’s home builders are suffering one heck of a hangover after the April end of the home buyer tax credit as sales took a record-breaking plummet in May to the lowest levels seen in more than four decades.
The 33 percent crash in new home sales the Commerce Department reported Wednesday was [...]
Palm Beach Post: WASHINGTON — Sales of new homes collapsed in May, sinking 33 percent to the lowest level on record as potential buyers stopped shopping for homes once they could no longer receive government tax credits.
The bleak report from the Commerce Department is the first sign of how the end of federal tax credits could [...]
Rueters: Sales of previously owned homes fell unexpectedly in May as delays in processing mortgage applications hampered the closing of contracts benefiting from a popular homebuyer tax credit, an industry group said on Tuesday.
The National Association of Realtors said sales fell 2.2 percent month over month to an annual rate of 5.66 million units from [...]
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — More than 1,200 prison inmates, including 241 serving life sentences, defrauded the government of $9.1 million in tax credits reserved for first-time homebuyers, according to a Treasury Department report released Wednesday.
Treasury’s inspector general also found that thousands of people filed multiple claims or made claims outside the allotted time period. In [...]
(Reuters) – The Senate voted on Wednesday to give homebuyers another three months to settle on their contracts and take advantage of a popular tax credit that sparked a rush of activity in the housing market.
The Senate, with a vote of 60-37, accepted an amendment by Democratic Leader Harry Reid that extends the closing deadline [...]
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — The next few weeks are crucial for home buyers, who need to close a purchase by the end of June to claim the federal home-buyer tax credit. A hiccup during the next month could cost a buyer thousands of dollars.
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(Reuters) – Sales of previously owned U.S. homes touched a five-month high in April amid a late rush to take advantage of a homebuyer tax credit, but a jump in houses on the market pointed to a slow recovery. While analysts generally expect a lull in homebuying over the next few months, they stressed that [...]
(Reuters) – U.S. home-builder sentiment rose in May to the highest level in more than 2-1/2 years, boosted by a homebuyer tax credit and strengthening economy, the National Association of Home Builders said on Monday.
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CNBC Despite continued government stimulus in the form of the extended home buyer tax credit, home values in the U.S. fell yet again in the first quarter of 2010. The bright spot, however, is California, where prices have stabilized in many of the largest metropolitan markets.
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For qualified service members who are ordered on a period of official extended duty, these dates are extended for one year. For these home buyers, the tax credit applies to sales with a binding sales contract in place on or before April 30, 2011 and closed by June 30, 2011.
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Call it the do-it-yourself stimulus. With tonight’s expiration of the government’s homebuyer tax credit, real estate firms, developers and home owners are already taking matters into their own hands—offering incentives or refunds to buyers after the credit expires. The expiring credit—which gives first-time homebuyers and some current homeowners a tax credit of up to $8,000 if [...]
Those hopeful that the home-buyer tax credit will get extended may be disappointed.
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Nine hundred days after putting their house on the market, Andrew and Jane Palestini were beginning to think they might be stuck in Iowa forever. The looming expiration of the government’s housing tax credit pushed them into action. They dropped their price by an additional $10,000, to $235,000. Somewhat to their shock, a buyer emerged. [...]
