Dear Friends,
This week was another busy one in Washington as health care reform dominates the headlines and as momentum picked up on extending and expanding the first-time homebuyer tax credit, which is set to expire on November 30, 2009.
On Tuesday, I testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs about the need to further restore the housing market and energize housing demand by expanding the first-time home buyer tax credit passed by Congress earlier this year.
I shared with the committee my personal experience as the President of a real estate company during the mid-1970s when Congress in 1975 passed a $2,000 home buyer tax credit. The credit drove buyers back to the market and ended the housing recession within a year.
During my 33-year career in real estate, I weathered four housing recessions and experienced many challenges and difficult markets, but never anything like the current housing market in America. America’s families have lost trillions of dollars in home equity as home values have fallen, and in some markets, continue to fall today. The current home buyer tax credit is set to expire on November 30, right as we are approaching the worst three months of the year for the housing market. It is imperative that we retain the momentum we have gained as a result of the current credit and go into the spring market with the increased consumer confidence necessary for establishing a viable market.
I believe the current first-time home buyer tax credit has made a difference. However, the real housing recession is not with first-time home buyers, but in the “trade-in” or “move-up” market in which Americans are putting off purchasing their next home.
I will offer an amendment to the legislation extending unemployment benefits that would extend and expand the current homebuyer tax credit. The amendment would keep the amount of the credit at $8,000, but would remove the first-time homebuyer requirement, extend the tax credit until June 30, 2010, and raise the income limits to $150,000 for an individual or $300,000 for a couple.
For purchases made in 2010, taxpayers would be able to claim the credit on their 2009 income tax return. Homebuyers would not have to repay the credit, provided the home remains their principal residence for 36 months after the purchase date. However, this 36 month recapture provision would not apply in the case of a member of the Armed Forces on active duty who moves pursuant to a military order and incident to a permanent change of station.
Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
Monday, October 26, 2009
LET'S KEEP BUYING THOSE FORECLOSURES
After a plunge lasting three years, houses have finally become cheap enough to lure buyers. That, in turn, is stabilizing prices, generating hope that the real estate market is beginning to recover.
Eight cities, including Chicago, Cleveland, Denver and San Francisco, showed price increases in May, up from four in April and one in March, according to data released Tuesday. Two other cities, Charlotte, N.C., and New York, were flat.
For the first time since early 2007, a composite index of 20 major cities was virtually flat, instead of down.
"We've found the bottom," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic, a data firm.
The release of the surprisingly strong Case-Shiller Price Index, compiled by Standard & Poor's, followed earlier reports that sales of existing homes rose last month for the third consecutive time, while sales of new homes rose in June by the largest percentage in eight years
All of these improvements are tentative, and come after a relentless decline that knocked more than half the value off houses in the worst-hit cities.
Some skeptics say they believe the market is merely pausing before it resumes falling and that much of the life in the market is coming from speculators. Even the most enthusiastic analysts acknowledge that rising unemployment, another leap in foreclosures or a significant jump in interest rates could snuff out progress.
Still, hope is growing in some quarters that the worst has passed.
Eight cities, including Chicago, Cleveland, Denver and San Francisco, showed price increases in May, up from four in April and one in March, according to data released Tuesday. Two other cities, Charlotte, N.C., and New York, were flat.
For the first time since early 2007, a composite index of 20 major cities was virtually flat, instead of down.
"We've found the bottom," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic, a data firm.
The release of the surprisingly strong Case-Shiller Price Index, compiled by Standard & Poor's, followed earlier reports that sales of existing homes rose last month for the third consecutive time, while sales of new homes rose in June by the largest percentage in eight years
All of these improvements are tentative, and come after a relentless decline that knocked more than half the value off houses in the worst-hit cities.
Some skeptics say they believe the market is merely pausing before it resumes falling and that much of the life in the market is coming from speculators. Even the most enthusiastic analysts acknowledge that rising unemployment, another leap in foreclosures or a significant jump in interest rates could snuff out progress.
Still, hope is growing in some quarters that the worst has passed.
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