Extension of the Buyer Tax Credit Moving Along

After the Senate passed a plan to extend and expand the credit for the first time buyer’s tax credit, it looks like the House is moving towards approving the measure as early as next week. The current tax credit for first time buyers is set to expire at the end of November.

The current $8,000 credit, which expires at the end of the month, has been available only to first-time buyers, but the Senate is considering expanding it to repeat buyers.

The House, which would have to approve the measure before sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature, is expected to take up the measure next week.

Image via Wikipedia

Under the new language in the Senate, homeowners who have lived in their home for five of the past eight years would be eligible to receive a $6,500 tax credit, while first-time buyers would still be eligible for an $8,000 credit.

The proposal would also increase the income limits of those eligible for the program, to $125,000 per year for individuals and $225,000 for couples.

The feeling now is that the tax credit enhanced for both first time and repeat home buyers would expire in April of next year. Of course, there are many opportunities to change the provisions of this proposal before it is sent to the President for signature.

Does it help the housing market? Of course it does, and one could make an argument that getting the housing market stabilized is instrumental to ending this recession. Is it worth the cost? That is something that people a lot smarter than me are going to have to figure out. Stay tuned…

Courtesy of Yahoo news.