Signs point to an extension for the $8,000 first-time homebuyers federal tax credit that is scheduled to expire Nov. 30.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has pushed for an extension and told reporters in a late August conference call he expected it to happen.
“We are going to extend that,” Reid said. “It’s something we can get done. We have to do it by the end of the year.”
Reports from the Washington Research Group, a unit of Concept Capital, has pegged the likelihood of the tax credit being extended at 60 percent.
National and Washington metro real estate professionals told The Examiner that the credit, which was included in the Obama administration’s nearly $1 billion stimulus package, helped revive a moribund housing market.
The National Association of Realtors estimated 1.8 million to 2 million first-time buyers would take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit this year, with approximately 350,000 additional sales that would not have taken place without it.
“The $8,000 credit was a great boon to buyers in the lower price ranges,” said Joe Himali, president of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors and a principal broker with Best Address Real Estate in Georgetown.
Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., has filed a bill to extend the credit through 2010. His bill also would expand the tax credit to all buyers, not just first-timers, defined in the existing bill as buyers who have not owned a home for the three previous years.
At least one other congressman agrees the credit should remain available.
“With only a few months left until the tax credit expires, it is important that Congress pass an extension to build upon the momentum this credit has begun to create,” Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., said in a statement.
The Mortgage Bankers Association, the American Land Title Association, the Business Roundtable and others, are pushing hard to win over more members of Congress.
“If Congress acts to extend the tax credit program, it would spur 383,000 additional home sales, including 80,000 housing starts, creating nearly 350,000 jobs over the coming year,” National Association of Home Builders Chairman Joe Robson said in a statement. “That’s good for the economy and good for America.”
Kendra Wright, a Realtor and branch vice president with Coldwell Banker Residential in McLean, said the extension should be extended past Dec. 1 and expanded.
“Why not encourage all Americans regardless of income level to purchase their own primary residence?” she asked.
