Real estate sales continue to do much better than last year driven by first time homebuyers getting deals done before the November 30th deadline. At the same time, as the chart above shows, the inventory of homes for sale in the Twin Cities has continued to drop month after month and 20%+ over last year. A balanced market is about 20,000 homes so we aren’t that far from getting into alignment. That said, the bulk of the current activity is in the less than $250k space. The full Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors weekly report is here – MAAR Weekly Report 10-19-09
Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension
Now that all of those first time buyers rushed into the market and helped stimulate sales there’s been an ongoing push in Congress to create an extension. It sounds like this is a done deal and that the Tax Credit will expand to others beyond first time buyers (with some exclusions).
- The Wall Street Journal had a piece on the impacts and who might qualify. Apparently the Obama Administration has signed off on this – Home Buyer Tax Credit Q&A
- Bloomberg quotes Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, to say that the bill may be approved as early as next week – Reid Says Credit May Be Approved Next Week
Impact of Extension
Many people were expecting that the end of the First Time Credit would mean a negative hit in both home sales and prices. With the expansion of this credit to help many more buyers it might actually prove more helpful at spurring sales in the $300-800k range which would be welcome.