In the past few months there has been a growing concern among realtors, banks, brokers and real estate lawyers that the economy may suffer a large downslope if the $8,000 tax credit that is currently available to first time home buyers ends on November 30.   This is the exact reason that many real estate professionals have joined in a campaign in an effort to get Congress’ attention on this very important subject.  The slogan of the campaing is “Don’t Let America’s Real Estate Recovery Expire”.

Many expert real estate professionals understand and know that the first time home buyer tax credit is something that can be used to continue to revive the economy.  While this is not the only thing that needs to be done to improve the economy from its current state, it is a very large part of it.

The homebuyers tax credit was started in February of this year and is set to expire November 30, 2009.  In July is when most home buyers started looking to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit so that they could close on the house by November 30 of this year.  Sales in July reflect the benefits of having the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit in place.  The sales on existing homes rose 7.2% and sales on new construction homes rose 9.6%, according to the Realtor and Commerce Department.  That was the first time in over two years that home sales increased by such a large percentage.

A lot of banks are afraid that those interested in becoming first time homebuyers will begin to back off from the idea of purchasing a home within the next month or so becuase the process to obtain a mortgage takes about 60 days and they would need to close on or before November 30, 2009 to be able to take advantage of the tax credit.  This reason has caused many real estate professionals to push Congress harder for an extention on the tax credit.  Also, the idea has been presented to Congress to not only extend the tax credit but also allow it to include individuals who already own homes, couples who make $75,000 to $150,000 annually and would increase the tax credit from $8,000 to $15,000.

The bill to extend the homebuyer tax credit and to change its provisions to include a larger range of people is currently gaining support with the Senate becuase of bill sponsor, John Isakson.  When asked about the bill he is sponsoring to extend the tax credit he said that he just wants to continue a program to help boost homes sales by more than 1 million in just the last year.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs tolds reporters that President Barack Obama’s team is currently looking at the bill for the new tax credit and “evaluating the impact” it will have on new home sales.

If you are a first time home buyer interested in purchasing a home in Staten Island, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Manhattan or New Jersey contact an experienced real estate lawyer.  Decker, Decker, Dito & Internicola, LLP, a Staten Island law firm, has over 35 years experience in real estate law.  To have us help you throughout the process of purchasing a home and for us to represent you at the closing of the title on future house contact us at 718.979.4300.