NAR: Tax Credit Best for Sustaining Housing Recovery
The best available tool for sustaining the still-fragile housing market is the $8,000 home buyer tax credit, and it is essential that Congress extend the credit into 2010, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® testified at a hearing of the U.S. House Small Business Committee today.
The tax credit expires November 30.
NAR Regional Vice President Joseph L. Canfora, a broker-owner with Century 21 Selmar Realty in East Islip, N.Y., also told the panel that a major stumbling block for consumers has been the implementation of appraisal processes spurred by the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, which is causing delays in closings, as well as cancelled sales that led to artificially low existing-home sales numbers for August, reported last month.
“The credit is working,” Canfora said, pointing out that the 355,000 to 400,000 transactions directly attributable to the credit made a significant dent in the housing inventory and will help to stabilize home prices. Further, the credit has provided a huge indirect benefit to local governments, shoring up property tax bases in particularly hard-hit areas.
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