The National Association of Realtors estimates that the tax credit will bring an additional 200,000 to 300,000 first-time buyers into the market this year.
The tax credit is equivalent to 10 percent of the purchase price of the home, for a maximum of $8,000. It applies to first-time buyers of principal residences. Unlike an earlier $7,500 tax credit program that was approved last year, the newer tax credit doesn't have to be repaid. The program applies only to homes that are purchased between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2009. Anybody who purchased a home during 2008 doesn't qualify.
The regulations define a first-time buyer as somebody who hasn't owned a principal residence within the last three years. That provision could appeal to thousands of former homeowners who sold because they moved or because of life-changing experiences such as divorce or a death in the family, lenders say.
ARTICLE: BUILDER MAGAZINE
No comments:
Post a Comment