The $8,000 Home Buyers Tax Credit Program has been extended and expanded.
The program extended to the home buyers with the Purchase Contract signed by the end of April 2010. It also expanded to include a $6,500 tax credit for existing homeowners who buy a new home after living in their current residence for at least 5 years.
$24 billion economic stimulus bill signed into law today 11/06/09 giving tax incentives to homebuyers. The House voted 403-12 to pass the bill, and Senate had approved it unanimously. See Yahoo News at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091106/ap_on_bi_ge/us_jobless_benefits_homebuyers
Comment: The Tax credit program is good for homebuyers and economy in general. However, it's only a "stimulus" as it intended to be.
To solve the real estate problem, the most important issue is to create jobs for the unemployed people and lower the unemployment rate (currently 10.2%, highest since 1983 ?), create good jobs for young, newly graduated folks etc.
This won't be an easy task. But it's critical in order to solve this crisis. Some people that I talked to, had suggested that we should put much higher tax on products made by companies that outsource to any foreign country, and give more incentives to the companies making products here in the U.S.