Erie Real Estate

Buyers that own(ed) a home can take advantage of Tax Credit

The home buyer tax credit has been extended and more importantly, it's be expanded to include more than First Time buyers.

The law extends the present $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers through April 30, 2010. Current homeowners are eligible for a $6,500 tax credit through April 30, provided they have lived in the home they are selling, or have sold, as the principal residence for five consecutive years during the past eight years.

If you meet the eligibility tests you could qualify for a $6,500 credit.  For example, let's say you bought a home in 2000 and lived there until 2008.  You since have been renting, you are eligible because for the creidt because you owned a home and occupied it as your principal residence for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8 years.

If potential home buyers have a binding contract on or before April 30, they will have 60 days to close the transaction.

Income limits for eligible home buyers are expanded to $125,000 for single buyers and $225,000 for couples. The purchase price of the home cannot exceed $800,000.

President Obama did sign the bill today.

Congress passes Home Buyer extension

Congress passed legislation expanding an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers.

The House approved the measure today on a 403-12 vote, sending it to the President for his signature.

In summary here's what it does:

• Extend through April 30, 2010 the tax credit for first-time homebuyers (up to $8,000 or up to 10 percent of the purchase price of the residence), allowing 60 days to close, provided that the homes are under a binding contract by that date;

• Provide homebuyer tax credit of up to $6,500 to owners who have been in the same principal residence for five consecutive years during the previous eight years;

• Increase the income limitations to $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for joint filers;

• Phase out the credit for individuals with incomes above $125,000 and $225,000 for joint filers at the same rate as current law (over the next $20,000)

• Limit the credit to purchase of principal residences equal to or less than $800,000;

• Eliminate the 36-month recapture requirement for military personnel, including members of the Foreign Service and intelligence community, forced to sell as a result of an official extended duty of service; and

• Extend the  tax credit for one year for military personnel serving outside the United States for at least 90 days in 2009 or 2010.

More details.

Some good opportunities if you have a few million $ laying around...

This year, home prices fell in the nation’s most exclusive neighborhoods.  Wow, this market is really effecting everyone.  Go figure.

In Alpine, N.J., which tops Forbes’ magazine’s list of America’s 500  Most Expensive ZIP Codes, home prices declined 23 percent in the last year.

Forbes’ list was compiled by Altos Research, a real estate data collection and research firm that tracks about 90 percent of all real estate transactions.

Based on Altos’ figures, here are the country’s 10 most-expensive  ZIP codes and the median home prices there:

1. 07620, Alpine, N.J., Median Home Price: $4,139,041
2. 94027, Atherton, Calif.: $3,849,133
3. 10014, New York, N.Y.: $3,521,514
4. 91008, Duarte, Calif.: $3,444,773
5. 90210, Beverly Hills, Calif.: $3,367,167
6. 92067, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.: $3,362,493
7. 93108, Santa Barbara, Calif.: $3,284,652
8. 94024, Los Altos Hills, Calif.: median unavailable
9. 10065, New York, N.Y.: $3,176,534
10. 07926, Brookside, N.J.: $3,121,115

Locally, July sales were up from July 2008.  261 closings in July '09 vs 220 in July '08.  July is the only month where sales were ahead of last year.  Although still less than the 290 in July of '07.

We also had 15 more listings enter the marketplace in July '09 than July '08.  Yes, only 15.  This is down 52 from July '07.

Erie Shrine Hospital to stay - OPEN

Delegates at the Shriners International Convention in San Antonio voted Monday to keep all 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children open. The vote is not considered final until the annual meeting ends Thursday.

Six of the hospitals, including the Erie facility, had been targeted for closure as part of a major restructuring of the nonprofit system of 22 hospitals.

Shriners International officials will not discuss the vote until Thursday.

Delegates will now consider proposals to save the hospital system without closing facilities. Those include cutting hospital budgets by 20 percent or more, and starting to charge patients' health insurance for treatment.

Shriners hospitals currently provide orthopedic and burn care at no cost to patients.

More here.

Mortgage rates at records lows

For the fourth consecutive week, mortgage rates have fallen to all-time lows. The 30-year mortgage rates averaged 5.01 percent this week, which is a drop from last week's 5.1 percent. Last year at this time, rates averaged 5.87 percent.

Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971.

Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

The Pennsylvania of REALTORS just released the 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

The report  has some very interesting highlights:

 The median age of home buyers was 38 years old.  The median household income of home buyers in PA was $71,700.  66% of home buyers had no children under age 18 residing in the home.  59% on buyers were married couples, 18% single females, 11% males, and 9% were unmarried couples.

Read about the home search process here .   

PNC to sell 11 area National Banks

Customers of at least 11 National City Corp. branches in northwestern Pennsylvania will soon be banking with another company.  

The news is the result of an agreement between the Justice Department and PNC Financial Services Group Inc., of Pittsburgh, to sell off or divest at least 61 National City branches in western Pennsylvania to comply with federal antitrust regulations.

Who will buy them?  Will Wells Fargo come in to have a retail banking center which would compliment their mortgage product?  Time will tell. 

Rate Buydown Gains Traction

An effort by the National Association of REALTORS  to spur home sales through a mortgage-interest rate buydown appears to be gaining traction. Reports in major news media like the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal today quote sources familiar with a meeting between U.S. Treasury officials and NAR in November in which the buydown proposal was discussed.

Under the Treasury plan, lenders would sell newly issued mortgage-backed securities to the government provided the interest-rate on the loans collateralizing the securities was no higher than 4.5 percent. Although NAR supports a buydown , it does not take a position on how low interest rates should go.

To pay for the plan, Treasury would issue bonds at 3 percent, creating a 1.5-percent spread that it could use for buying the securities. Those securities would then be purchased by secondary mortgage market companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are under federal conservatorship.

 

Treasury Alerts REALTORS to Fraud Scheme

If a buyer tries to use a "personal promissory note" or "private offset bond" to buy a home, the matter might be an attempt at fraud and you should let the U.S. Treasury Department know, a notice from the Treasury's Office of Inspector General says. 

Click here to read the notice in full, with contact information

Mortgage rates fall

Rates fell  to 4 7/8 percent, a 1 1/8 percentage point decline. David Beadle, president of BestInfo, said it was the sharpest one-day decline since 1988.

Locally, they didn't go quite that low, however they have dropped.  FHA went to 5.75%, it's been awhile since they dropped below 6%.  Conventional dropped to 5.5% for 39 year fixed rate.

Erie Airport expansion project

Erie Intermational Airport  runway expansion project is taking over more Millcreek properties. 

Zone 1 has been cleared.   Now homes in an area designated "Zone 2" are next in line for demolition.