Posts Tagged ‘$15’
In my last post about the $15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit, I mentioned that the one of the goals behind the bill is to generate home sales that will reduce the large backlog of home inventory across the country and thus help stabilize the economy. Even Marin has been hit hard by the economic downturn. The months supply of inventory for homes and condos in Marin is at 10.4 months, meaning at the current rate of sales, it would take 10.4 months to sell the existing home inventory if no new listings came on the market. The challenge with these numbers is that it only reflects homes listed for sale on the multiple listing service.
As I mentioned recently, there are a large quantity of homes for sale in Marin County that are off the Marin MLS system. The numbers you see in the chart below are artificially low due to the large quantity of homes being marketed outside the MLS system.
If passed, the economic stimulus package could help lower end buyers in Marin get off the fence and start purchasing again. Stay tuned!
The Senate will vote tomorrow on the Economic Stimulus Bill which includes a provision giving home buyers a $15,000 tax credit. The provision is designed to get qualified home buyers off the fence, start purchasing homes and reduce the large quantity of home inventory across the country.
The Senate bill has significant differences from the House bill, which will have to be addressed if the Senate bill passes.
The Home Buyer Tax Credit theory: by reducing the backlog of home inventory, home prices will stop their free fall and the number of foreclosures will be reduced, thus reducing losses for banks holding mortgage backed securities, improving the credit markets and stabilizing the economy.
The Basics: The bill provides a tax credit for 10% of the purchase price of a primary residence up to $15,000. Unlike the House bill, the Senate bill is available to all buyers of primary residences. It does not have an income limit. The credit is non-refundable, meaning home buyers can only benefit from the credit if they owe Federal income tax in the year of purchase.
More Information: