RISMEDIA, February 19, 2009-Now that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been signed into law by President Barack Obama, more families across Texas will be able to keep their homes and many others will be able to become first-time homeowners, says the dfwREALTOR Association.
The provisions of the bill expected to boost the North Texas housing market include:
– Increasing the first-time home buyer tax credit to $8,000 and eliminating the repayment requirement
– Extending the credit availability until December 1, 2009
– The creation of approximately 286,000 jobs throughout Texas
“The provisions in the economic stimulus legislation offer powerful incentives for home buyers to participate in the economic recovery,” said Howard Zielke, president of dfwREALTORS®. “Job creation and tax cuts are going to help families recover and prosper, and the tax credit will bring first-time home buyers to the market.”
The National Association of Realtors® estimates that the home buyer tax provisions could fuel up to 300,000 additional home sales, thereby helping stabilize home values and creating better opportunities for sellers to sell their home and avoid foreclosure.
The bill also:
– Allocates resources for neighborhood stabilization efforts to help communities purchase and rehab foreclosed and vacant properties
– Reinstates the 2008 higher loan limits for FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, designed to help reduce housing inventory and improve liquidity in the overall mortgage market
“The neighborhood stabilization efforts will protect North Texas neighborhoods adversely affected by high foreclosures and preserve home values from further decline during the economic recovery,” said Zielke.
“Our job at dfwREALTORS is to educate our member Realtors on all legislation and market trends that effect the North Texas housing market,” said Rich Thomas, chief executive officer of dfwREALTORS. “Home buyers and sellers can turn to Realtors for trustworthy information and reliable advice on the economic reality in North Texas.”
For more information, visit www.dfwrealtors.com.
