First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Gets Obama Nod

An extension of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit appears all but certain after the Obama administration called on Congress to give house hunters more time to claim the popular tax perk. The move comes shortly after Senate lawmakers stuck an agreement to not only push back the measure's looming deadline but expand it to allow current homeowners and more affluent buyers to claim the credit. "We welcome efforts taken by Congress to extend the first-time home buyers tax credit for a limited period," Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a joint statement today. "This credit has brought new families into the housing market and contributed to three consecutive months of rising home prices nationwide." Here are five things you need to know about the development:

[See New Home Buyer Tax Credit: 7 Things You Need to Know.]

1. Roots and impact: A tax credit of as much as $8,000 for certain qualified first-time home buyers was included in the Obama administration's sweeping economic stimulus package, which the president signed in mid-February. The measure was designed to stimulate additional demand for residential real estate and help absorb the overhang of unsold properties that was putting downward pressure on home prices. Along with cheaper home prices and attractive mortgage rates, the perk has helped reduce the glut of unsold properties. Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, expects the tax credit to result in as many as 400,000 additional home sales by the time of its scheduled expiration at the end of November. But trade groups—like the National Association of Home Builders and the National Association of Realtors—have been lobbying Congress to push the deadline back, arguing that failing to do so would jeopardize recent signs of stability in the housing market. The NAHB, for example, blamed yesterday's weaker-than-expected new home sales report on the tax credit's impending expiration.

[See Weak Home Sales Suggest a Slog of a Recovery.]

2. Extending the deadline: Although various proposals to extend and expand the credit have circulated in Congress for weeks, Senate lawmakers finally reached a deal in recent days. Under the terms of the agreement, the deadline for first-time home buyers to claim the $8,000 credit would be pushed back to April 30, 2010. But the term "deadline" doesn't mean the same thing as it does in the current credit. The Senate agreement stipulates that buyers must have a sales contract on a house by April 30 to be eligible, but it gives them an additional 60 days to close the purchase. That's much different from the current credit, in which transactions must be closed by November 30. Looked at one way, the effective deadline of the credit under this agreement is actually the end of June.

3. Existing buyers: But perhaps the most significant change is that current homeowners would become eligible for the tax perk as well. The current credit prevents home buyers who have owned a primary residence within the past three years from claiming the credit. The agreement, however, would allow current homeowners to claim up to $6,500 as long as the property they are vacating has been their primary residence for at least five years. Expanding the credit beyond first-time buyers is intended to boost home sales to "move up" buyers—those moving from one house to another—which some lawmakers, most notably Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, argue is essential to a housing recovery.

4. More-affluent home buyers: The agreement also enables more affluent Americans to claim the tax credit. Senators moved to increase its annual income limits from $75,000 to $125,000 for single buyers and from $150,000 to $225,000 for married couples. These limits apply to both first-time and move-up buyers, although neither can purchase a home for more than $800,000 and still get the credit. Anyone taking the credit on a 2010 purchase can claim it on his or her 2009 tax return. And as long as home buyers live in the property they purchased via the credit for three years or more, the tax credit does not have to be repaid.

5. Credit controversy: Zandi estimates that the Senate agreement would generate more home sales than the current credit would. "It's broader, [and] the industry is geared up to take advantage of it now," he says. But first-time home buyer tax credits have already cost the government more than $10 billion in lost revenue, and Zandi expects that the Senate agreement would cost at least as much. And although it's been popular with those purchasing homes, some economists have called the credit an inefficient use of federal resources. Calculated Risk, a financial blog, has estimated that Uncle Sam has paid $43,000 for every additional home sale. And the Senate agreement—which enables households making more than $200,000 a year to claim the credit—could certainly appear overly generous in a time of trillion-dollar budget deficits.

At the same time, the credit has recently been linked to widespread abuse. Russell George, the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration, told a congressional panel last week that 19,300 taxpayers had claimed the first-time home buyer credit before they had even purchased a home. In another 74,000 cases—totaling more than $500 million—taxpayers claimed the credit despite evidence that they had owned a home within the past three years. And in at least one case, a 4-year-old claimed the credit, George said.

[See First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit: All Sorts of Sketchy Claims.]

Although the agreement appears to have broad bipartisan support, it still has to get out of the chamber. Along the way, it could be stripped of certain generous provisions. But in light of the White House support, it appears all but certain that at the very least, the first-time home buyer tax credit will be extended beyond its November 30 deadline.