[Update July 2010] Approved! First-time home buyers now have until Sept. 30 to close on their home purchases and qualify for the $8,000/$6500 tax credit under a newly approved extension bill. The closing deadline was originally June 30. To be eligible, buyers still need a contract that was in place by April 30.

The home buyer credit, extended and expanded over the last 3 years is set to expire at the end of this month with Congress still unable to approve the extension as part of HR 4213 (see previous update below). However, recently released data for May 2010 shows worrying trends of sharply declining sales of existing and new homes. Further, inventory data and foreclosure activity have not shown any signs of improvement. All this suggests the expiration of the home buyer credit may have more of an impact than people thought.

This news and voter pressure prompted House members to take more action with the stalling of the HR 4213 bill in Congress (due to other provisions in it). As such a new bill – H.R 5623 – was introduced and approved by the House (409-5) to extend the home buyer credit for new and existing home buyers.  The bill has now passed in the Senate without amendment by unanimous consent. President Obama has also signed the bill into law. Here is a summary of the bill:

First posted by: by Andys2i

For the full story : http://www.savingtoinvest.com/2009/02/15000-first-home-buyer-tax-credit-in.html