Yesterday we heard the news that the First Time Homebuyer Tax credit that was slated to expire on November 30th, 2009 is being extended until next spring. Future homeowners need to get under contract before May 1st 2010 to take advantage of the extension. This is great news for realtors, mortgage people and most of all buyers in light of the current low mortgage rates.

The extension of the home buyer tax credit is official now. The $8,000 home buyer’s tax credit will be extended and the new $6,500 homebuyer’s incentive tax credit will begin. The bill is expected to be signed by President Obama on Friday, November 6, 2009. The same bill also provides a tax break for businesses that lost money, and extends unemployment benefits for another 20 weeks.

The House of Representatives today joined the Senate in approving legislation that would expand and extend into next spring an $8000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers. The bill now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. Existing home buyers will get $6500 home buyer tax credit.

While there may be ample reason to fear that the Chinese will subvert our economy by dumping U.S. dollars, there is greater reason to fear the drywall that they sent with no malice aforethought.

A new report today stated that the government's first-time home buyer $8,000 tax credit has spurred a significant amount of sales this year, estimated to be as many as 400,000 by the time the program ends at the end of November. At the same time, news reports this morning state that Senate negotiators have reached a tentative deal on extending and slightly expanding the tax credit.

There seems to be some confusion in the housing markets lately. Conflicting figures and opinions from authoritative indexes and pundits tell us that we’ve either hit the bottom of the housing market, we’re moving down again, or we’re moving up. This kind of analysis is likely to produce housing vertigo. As a result it becomes difficult for the average individual to decide whether it’s a good idea to purchase a home at this time.

As we move into the last quarter of 2009, home sales figures have risen on average all over the nation, and home prices have inched up in 140 metro areas. The overall consensus is that the housing market has bottomed. However, most economists opine that the market will not get off its bottom and move into forward motion until 2010.

The deadline for first-time home buyers to get the credit is approaching fast. If some Congress members have their way, that deadline will be extended and the program will be opened up to everyone.

Sunday October 11, 2009, California Governor Schwarzenegger signed the Buyer’s Choice Act, Assembly Bill 957, into law. The new law prohibits owners (typically banks) of foreclosed properties from forcing California homebuyers to use a particular title company, Escrow Company or other real estate service provider. The Buyer's Choice Act requires that a disclosure notice be provided to buyers informing them of their rights to choose their own real estate services companies to close their transactions

Based on current sales figures, the U.S. housing market is having a wonderful time. Prices of existing homes show gains of 3.5% or more since April, and numbers of homes sold are 15% above the lows set in November of last year. Even experts as knowledgeable as Robert Case, of the famed S&P/Case Shiller index, were surprised by the resilience of the housing market over this last year.

When it comes to real estate, everybody is an expert. And why not? We all have to live someplace, and real estate’s former successes and current woes have held a dominant position in the news since at least 2003. As a result, along with basketball, golf, and bowling, real estate has become one of our foremost participant sports. After all, just about anyone with an income and a decent credit rating can play the game.

Wall Street is sending mixed messages this morning. The DOW is down slightly with a worse than expected earnings report from Johnson and Johnson. The yield on the 10 year bond is down from the close on Friday, which has current mortgage rates trending down as well.