$15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit

The U.S. Senate voted yesterday to amend the 2008 American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Act to include ALL homebuyers and increase the $7,500 tax credit up to $15,000 or 10% of the purchase price. The Senate acted unanimously to pass the amendment sponsored by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.

The amendment will make this $15,000 tax credit on any primary residence available for one year after the bill is enacted. It also changes the $7,500 tax credit from the initial act to a true tax credit, not a zero interest loan that had to be repaid over 15 years.

The amendment is part of the Stimulus Package that includes more wasteful spending than useful economic stimulus needed to get our slumping housing market jump started. The Republicans are currently proposing holding mortgage interest rates at 4% for home buyers or those wishing to refinance their current mortgage. The U.S. Treasury would subsidize the difference between current mortgage rate levels and the 4% target rate.

The mortgage proposal, if enacted, and the $15,000 home buyer tax credit will definitely be the helping hand we need here in Central Oregon. For those buying or trying to sell their home in Bend, Oregon it couldn't come at a better time. The Bend housing market has been hit hard in this economic slowdown with foreclosures and short sales dragging down our home prices.

The good news in all of this is the opportunity it provides for home buyers in Bend and those struggling to sell their homes. The increased demand the $15,000 tax credit will create will help us thin out our bloated supply of homes and hopefully stabilize home prices.

If you have been thinking about buying a home in Bend, the time to act is now. Remember this tax credit will only last for one year and the great deals out there will go sooner than that.

Troy Batson is a Licensed Broker in the State of Oregon ~ troybatson.com ~ Duke Warner Realty ~ Bend, Oregon