Will the First-time Buyer Credit be Extended?

I am hearing different things about the current First-time Buyer Credit that is set to expire at the end of November.  I’ve been told that an extension is in the works but we won’t know until it is officially announced that it was accepted and in force.  Will it remain the same – $8,000 and only for first-time buyers?

If you are waiting to purchase to see if there will be an extension and if it will be better, you are taking a gamble.  However, if you don’t already have a contract in the works you might not hit the current deadline to close your sale.

Has the credit helped the sagging Scottsdale real estate market?

I have heard different opinions and I guess it depends on where an agent works and what kind of market they work in.  Some agents have been very happy with the credit and have seen an increase in sales because of it.  Other agents have not noticed an increase in sales at all due to the credit.

I have sold a few homes to first-time buyers that will be eligible for the credit.  However, each of the homes was already vacant.  That means that in these cases the credit did not cause a domino effect by helping a home seller sell their Scottsdale home so they could move up to their next purchase.  A lot of other agents are seeing the same thing.  Either way, whether it’s foreclosures, short sales, estate sales, or regular sales, these are homes that were part of the large inventory that are now sold and closed.

Does everyone want the credit extended?

There are some people unhappy with this tax credit.  They feel they will be paying for this for a long time and are angry to have to foot the bill for something that didn’t benefit them directly.

There are some that feel the credit only helped a small percentage of people, including real estate agents.  Again, I feel it helped the housing market a little by getting some of the bloated inventory off the market.

Others feel that the government should back off and let the housing market heal itself by hitting bottom and then repairing itself naturally.  They feel the credit is a band-aid that will simply prolong the declining market.

Have you heard the market is getting better?

Keep in mind, when you read a national news article describing the housing market, the key word is “national.”  Real estate is very local and although some areas might be seeing prices and sales increase a bit, many other areas are still declining.  I just listed a home in Scottsdale that we did a CMA on a while back.  Prices have declined since the last time we did the market analysis by about 2.75%.  That’s not a bad decline but it’s still on a downward trend for the popular area of North Scottsdale.

On the other hand, I’m still quite busy for this time of year.  Normally, the Scottsdale real estate market is seasonal and after the school season begins things start slowing down.  I’m not really seeing a big slowdown right now, which is a good thing.

If you’re looking to buy or list real estate in Scottsdale, Carefree, Cave Creek, Fountain Hills, North Phoenix, Paradise Valley or other close areas, please give Judy Orr a call at 480-877-1549 or use the Contact Form.