Southeast Charlotte Area News

News & Info on Our Local Housing Market by John Walker Provider: John C. Walker, Realtor Feed Type: Residential [report]

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IRS Clarifies Rules on New $6,500 Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credit

The IRS has published an update to the rules for the repeat-purchase credit, with additional details for taxpayers that had been missing since it's November 6, 2009 passage. Hope this helps those considering a Charlotte home purchase.

To qualify, buyers must meet the following requirements:.

1. Owners of existing homes, specifically, taxpayers who have occupied the same property as a principal residence for 5 consecutive years during the previous 8 years, may now be able to claim a tax credit on a purchase of another home they intend to use as their principal residence.
2. The credit is for up to 10% of the price of the replacement home, capped at $6,500. The home must be placed under contract by April 30, 2010, and the closing must occur no later than June 30, 2010.
3. Members of the armed forces and federal diplomatic and intelligence personnel stationed overseas get one extra year to claim their credit.
4. The maximum purchase price on houses eligible for the credit is $800,000.
5. Purchasers are not required to sell their previous house, but they must be able to demonstrate that the replacement home is or will be their primary residence.
6. A copy of the signed HUD-1 settlement sheet, including the contract sale price and the date of closing. This is to document that the timing of the transaction meets the program's requirements.
7. Evidence of long-term ownership and occupancy of the previous home to meet the 5-consecutive-years requirement. This can be property tax records, homeowner's insurance records or IRS Form 1098 mortgage interest statements for the 5-year period.
8. For buyers claiming a credit on a newly constructed home, for which a HUD-1 settlement sheet is not available, the IRS will accept a copy of the certificate of occupancy showing the purchasers' names, the property address and the date.
9. Your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) must be $125,000 or less if you are single, $225,000 or less if you are married and filing jointly. Above these limits, the allowable credit amount begins to phase down in increments and is eliminated once incomes hit $145,000 for singles and $245,000 for married joint filers.

Be aware, you may have to repay the credit to the government if you sell your new home within 36 months after purchase, convert it to a rental or business property, or if your lender forecloses on the new house.

Home Prices Begin to Rise... Finally!

A gauge of house prices posted its first monthly gain in three years, providing some comfort to sellers weary from slumping values.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index rose 0.5% in May from the prior month, the first gain since July 2006 and biggest since May of that year. Stabilization of the housing market and a rebound in financial assets may bring an end this quarter to the record slump in household wealth. If it is time for your to list your Charlotte area property for sale, get a home valuation before putting it on the market to see what these new data mean for you and your home.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index was down 17.1% from May 2008, less than projected and the smallest year-over-year drop in nine months. Compared with a month earlier, 14 cities showed price gains. The price figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal effects, so economists prefer to focus on year-over-year changes. Adjusted for seasonal changes, the index fell 0.2 percent in May, the smallest monthly decline since February 2007. If you’re looking for a bottom, there’s a lot of good stuff here.

The report buttresses other measures that have shown a deceleration in price declines. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said last week that its purchase-only price index was down 5.6% in May from a year earlier, the smallest annual drop in 10 months. The FHFA index is a national measure that tracks houses bought with mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and excludes many of the foreclosure sales and properties bought with non-conventional mortgages. In addition to being limited to 20 areas, the S&P/Case-Shiller report also includes distressed properties and those bought with non-conventional loans such as jumbo mortgages.

New Home Sales Rise Most in Eight Years

Purchases of new homes rose 11% in June 2009, the biggest gain in eight years, underscoring evidence that the deepest housing slump since the Great Depression is starting to stabilize.

Sales rose to a 384,000 annual pace, higher than every forecast and the most since November 2008, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. The number of houses on the market dropped to the lowest level in more than a decade. Check to see Charlotte houses on the market and sort out the great values.

While this news means the drag on economic growth will turn to a stimulus in the second half of the year, property values are likely to continue falling nationally and rising unemployment will temper the general economic recovery. However, economists are now speculating that this new data means the pricing bottom is not far off, somewhere in the next three to six months. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

The Commerce Department earlier this month reported that builders began work on 582,000 residential properties at an annual rate in June, the most since November. Home construction has subtracted from U.S. gross domestic product every quarter since the start of 2006.

The jump in sales signals the U.S. economy is on the way to recovery. Across the board this is good news. It’s what you would expect to see at the beginning of a recovery.”

June Sales of New Houses Likely Rose to Four-Month High

Sales of new homes likely rose in June to the highest level in four months, adding to evidence the housing slump that began in 2005 is stabilizing, economists said ahead of a government report today.

Sales increased 2.9% to a 352,000 level, according to the median forecast of 60 economists. Purchases reached a record-low 329,000 level in January 2009.

Falling prices and near record-low mortgage rates have started to lure buyers even as the unemployment rate rises. The worst recession in five decades may end in coming months as the housing and manufacturing downturns ease. Use Charlotte home values to connect with a knowledgeable listing agent and find out what your property should list for.

Home demand is stabilizing which is not surprising given the improvement in Charlotte home affordability. Home sales are likely to pick up from here. Estimates are for a further sequential increase in sales to the 350,000 to 377,000 range.

New-home sales have risen in two of the four months since the January low. Other reports underscore the stabilization in housing. The Wells Fargo/National Association of Homebuilders sentiment index has risen in five of the past six months and existing home sales have increased for three months in a row.

Senators Push For $15,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit

Lawmakers are pushing to revive legislation in the Senate that would almost double an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and expand the program to all borrowers. A group introduced a bill today that would increase the tax credit to $15,000 and remove income and other restrictions on who can qualify.

The legislation would extend the homebuyer credit to multifamily properties used as the borrower's primary residence. It would also eliminate income caps of $75,000 and $150,000 on individuals and couples seeking to claim the credit.

The Business Roundtable and the National Association of Realtors are pushing to expand the tax credit and to lower mortgage rates to revive the U.S. housing market. The proposed bill would extend the credit, which now applies to homes purchased from Jan. 1 to Dec. 1, 2009, to one year after the new measure is signed into law. It would make the credit available to all borrowers, not only borrowers who haven't owned a home in the previous three years as is the case under current law. It would also let borrowers divide the credit over two years. The legislation wouldn't be applied retroactively to purchases completed before the date of enactment.

FHA Adds Down-Payment Options to $8000 Credit

First-time Charlotte home buyers can now use the federal tax credit of up to $8000 to help cover a down payment and other upfront closing costs if they are taking out a loan backed by the Federal Housing Administration or FHA. The tax credit was made available as part of the Obama administration's efforts to motivate first-time buyers and jump-start the housing market.

Instead of requiring first-time buyers to wait for weeks, possibly months, after filing their tax returns to receive the money, FHA is allowing private lenders, state housing agencies and some nonprofit groups to offer loans secured by the tax credit. This new twist should help real estate markets all around the country clear their supplies of homes for sale, including foreclosures and bank-owned properties.

The tax credit is available only for purchases made this year before December 1. Eligibility is limited to people who have not owned a home in the previous 3-years. Those buyers may be able to collect up to $8000, depending on their incomes.

Under HUD's plan, buyers cannot use the tax credit advance to pay the 3.5% down payment FHA mortgages require if they get the advance from a private lender. They can use it to add to that down payment or help defray closing costs. But buyers who turn to housing agencies can put the tax credit advance toward the 3.5% down payment as well as other purchasing costs.

Although buyers can only qualify for a tax credit once they close on a house, they can determine in advance how large a credit they will receive by providing tax documents to their lenders or local housing agencies.

North Carolina Foreclosures Fall 15% in April