Final score: $8,000 for homebuyers
First-time purchasers get a tax credit windfall if they buy before December.
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- There's a nice windfall for some homebuyers in the economic stimulus bill awaiting President Obama's signature on Tuesday. First-time buyers can claim a credit worth $8,000 - or 10% of the home's value, whichever is less - on their 2008 or 2009 taxes.
A big plus is that the credit is refundable, meaning tax filers see a refund of the full $8,000 even if their total tax bill - the amount of witholding they paid during the year plus anything extra they had to pony up when they filed their returns - was less than that amount. But there has been a lot of confusion over this provision. Adam Billings of Knoxville, Tenn. wrote to CNNMoney.com asking:
"I will qualify as a first-time home buyer, and I am currently set to get a small tax refund for 2008. Does that mean if I purchased now that I would get an extra $8,000 added on top of my current refund?"
The short answer? Yes, Billings would get back the $8,000 plus what he'd overpaid. The long answer? It depends. Here are three scenarios:
Scenario 1: Your final tax liability is normally $6,000. You've had taxes withheld from every paycheck and at the end of the year you've paid Uncle Sam $6,000. Since you've already paid him all you owe, you get the entire $8,000 tax credit as a refund check.
Scenario 2: Your final tax liability is $6,000, but you've overpaid by $1,000 through your payroll witholding. Normally you would get a $1,000 refund check. In this scenario, you get $9,000, the $8,000 credit plus the $1,000 you overpaid.
Scenario 3: Your final tax liability is $6,000, but you've underpaid through your payroll witholding by $1,000. Normally, you would have to write the IRS a $1,000 check. This time, the first $1,000 of the tax credit pays your bill, and you get the remaining $7,000 as a refund.
To qualify for the credit, the purchase must be made between Jan. 1, 2009 and Nov. 30, 2009. Buyers may not have owned a home for the past three years to qualify as "first time" buyer. They must also live in the house for at least three years, or they will be obligated to pay back the credit.
Additionally, there are income restrictions: To qualify, buyers must make less than $75,000 for singles or $150,000 for couples. (Higher-income buyers may receive a partial credit.)
Applying for the credit will be easy - or at least as easy as doing your income taxes. Just claim it on your return. No other forms or papers have to be filed. Taxpayers who have already completed their returns can file amended returns for 2008 to claim the credit.
Many may look at the tax credit as a discount on the home price, according to Yun. A $100,000 purchase effectively becomes a $92,000 one. That can reassure buyers apprehensive about purchasing and then watching prices continue falling, he added.
And it provides a nice nest egg for the often-difficult early years of homeownership, when unexpected repairs and expenses often crop up. Recipients could also use the money to buy new stuff for their home - a lawnmower, a rug, a sofa - and, in that way, help stimulate the economy.
Showing posts with label Recent News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recent News. Show all posts
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Friday, October 10, 2008
ABC World News Features KC Housing Market
ABC World News Features Kansas City Housing Market
Kansas City’s housing market was featured ABC’s World News with Charles Gibson Thursday night in a look at the housing market. Kansas City was focused as a Midwestern city where the new-home market has bucked national trends and began to show positive signs and the early markings of a recovery.“Locally, permits have been up over the last three months,” local home builder Kevin Enyeart of Gale Homes said in an interview with ABC News. “We just wrapped up the local Parade of Homes where we open up all the homes from all the builders metrowide. In our sales office we saw triple the traffic – over 150 car loads of families coming through sales office compared to 40 or 50 during a typical Parade of Homes.”
Enyeart explained that builders have significantly reduced their inventory of new of new homes and that homebuyers were realizing that opportunities to take advantage of competitive prices and low mortgage rates are dwindling.“They are wanting to jump in and take that last opportunity on a purchase before things start to hit that uptick on the bell curve,” he told ABC News.“The general consumer confidence seems positive right now,” Enyeart said. “They are watching the headlines; they are watching the credit tightening. I’ve seen folks coming in worried about where the credit tightening is going to and looking to either take advantage of it before things changes too dramatically or get locked in on rates as they are a little bit lower since there is some uncertainty over where rates are going to go.”While national new-home sales plunged 11.5 percent in August, Midwest sales activity rose more than 7 percent, according to the Census Bureau.“I say to my clients, ‘It’s a buyer’s market – why aren’t you buying?’ ” Chicago Realtor Jeanine Wheeler told ABC News. Despite tougher credit and lending standards, mortgage broker Ken Perlmutter explained that credit remained available for buyers in the new-home market.“There is a misconception out there that we aren’t lending money,” Perlmutter said. We are. We’re certainly eager to lend it to people who want to buy homes.
HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF GREATER KANSAS CITY600 E. 103rd Street · Kansas City, Missouri 64131-4300OFFICE (816) 942-8800 · FAX (816) 942-8367
©
2008 Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City
Kansas City’s housing market was featured ABC’s World News with Charles Gibson Thursday night in a look at the housing market. Kansas City was focused as a Midwestern city where the new-home market has bucked national trends and began to show positive signs and the early markings of a recovery.“Locally, permits have been up over the last three months,” local home builder Kevin Enyeart of Gale Homes said in an interview with ABC News. “We just wrapped up the local Parade of Homes where we open up all the homes from all the builders metrowide. In our sales office we saw triple the traffic – over 150 car loads of families coming through sales office compared to 40 or 50 during a typical Parade of Homes.”
Enyeart explained that builders have significantly reduced their inventory of new of new homes and that homebuyers were realizing that opportunities to take advantage of competitive prices and low mortgage rates are dwindling.“They are wanting to jump in and take that last opportunity on a purchase before things start to hit that uptick on the bell curve,” he told ABC News.“The general consumer confidence seems positive right now,” Enyeart said. “They are watching the headlines; they are watching the credit tightening. I’ve seen folks coming in worried about where the credit tightening is going to and looking to either take advantage of it before things changes too dramatically or get locked in on rates as they are a little bit lower since there is some uncertainty over where rates are going to go.”While national new-home sales plunged 11.5 percent in August, Midwest sales activity rose more than 7 percent, according to the Census Bureau.“I say to my clients, ‘It’s a buyer’s market – why aren’t you buying?’ ” Chicago Realtor Jeanine Wheeler told ABC News. Despite tougher credit and lending standards, mortgage broker Ken Perlmutter explained that credit remained available for buyers in the new-home market.“There is a misconception out there that we aren’t lending money,” Perlmutter said. We are. We’re certainly eager to lend it to people who want to buy homes.
HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF GREATER KANSAS CITY600 E. 103rd Street · Kansas City, Missouri 64131-4300OFFICE (816) 942-8800 · FAX (816) 942-8367
©
2008 Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City
New Homes Forecast
Forecast Shows Housing Making Positive Transition in 2008Declining inventories show housing headed in the right direction
After back-to-back down years for both new-home starts and sales, the Kansas City housing market is showing a swing in a positive direction. That was the message from the 2008 Housing Forecast presented Thursday, Jan. 17 by the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City (HBA). More than 425 housing professionals attended the forecast event at the Westin Crown Center Hotel.
Related Articles
Dan Whitney Presentation
Tim Underwood Presentation
Kansas City Star coverage Adobe PDF of The Star's forecast coverage
New-home inventory levels are falling quickly and home sales are poised to rebound in 2008, suggesting a stronger, more balanced housing market is right around the corner, according to Dan Whitney, president of the housing market research firm Landmarketing based in Overland Park.
“The local new housing market is in a state of positive transition,” Whitney explained to attendees at the annual housing forecast. “Inventory levels have dropped for the fourth quarter in a row and have fallen 15.4 percent from their all-time high in January 2007.”
Whitney said inventories will continue to fall given the 51 percent decrease in housing starts and 32.6 percent drop in new-home building permits. His forecast calls for new-home permits to dip slightly in 2008 before beginning a steady recovery in 2009 to the pre-housing boom levels of the late 1990s.
“While these corrections are difficult for the building industry, they are necessary to bring the supply in line with the demand,” Whitney said. “The appropriate level of new-home inventory is approximately 1,500 fewer than the current 4,188 homes. The supply and demand balance favors the buyer right now but inventory levels will drop fast creating a more balanced market.”
There were 1,421 more closings than starts in 2007, with Johnson and Clay counties accounting for the bulk of the reduction in inventory. Johnson County posted 490 more closings than starts, while Clay County reduced inventory by 410 homes.
Excess inventory should continue to move quickly in 2008. Whitney’s forecast calls for new-home closings to rebound 18 percent following a 10 percent decline in 2007. That would allow net inventory levels to drop to more normal levels. As a result, Whitney expects the best opportunities for consumers to occur earlier in the year before excess inventories are fully absorbed by the market.
While all prices ranges across the metro have a modest buildup in new-home inventories, Whitney said the degree of concern differs from location to location and price range to price range. In terms of prices, the extremes of the market have been the best performing in terms of inventory levels, with homes priced under $175,000 posting the lowest monthly supply on the market. The second-best performing price range is for homes priced more than $925,000.
The biggest buildup in inventory is among homes priced $225,000 to $625,000, yet Whitney said there are locations where that price range is performing well, such as in southwestern Jackson County and southern Leavenworth County.
Whitney said a key factor impacting Kansas City’s housing market correction is clearing the backlog of existing homes on the market. “The number one reason new-home shoppers give for not being able to take advantage of the housing values now is they cannot sell their existing home. Existing-home sales have to increase to allow buyers to purchase new homes.
While instability in the mortgage market sparked by the turmoil in subprime lending is faulted in some markets nationwide, Whitney said Kansas City is fairing much better than average in terms of mortgage accessibility and availability of credit.“The local mortgage situation is in great shape compared to the highly publicized areas around the country, particularly Florida, California, Michigan and Nevada,” he said. “This national coverage continues to overshadow the local relatively stable conditions in Kansas City and the Midwest.”
As the housing market begins its recovery, questions abound about what the new and improved housing market will look like. Underwood said focusing on the development of new housing choices and better connections between housing and transportation will allow residential construction to maintain its role as an economic engine for the region.
“We need to take a closer look at the demographic trends of our metro and establish a regional vision for housing choices that meet the needs and demands of local families,” Underwood said. “Housing affordability, employment, transportation and the economy are critical issues impacting today’s market. We need to address all of these concerns to ensure that we are building strong, vibrant neighborhoods for Kansas City new-home buyers.”
Whitney agreed with Underwood’s assessment that new housing choices driven by changing demographics and the housing needs of local families is critical to future success.
“There’s too much relying on crystal balls instead of market trends and facts,” Whitney said.
The Home Builders Association (HBA) of Greater Kansas City is the voice of the housing industry and the source for housing information. Comprising more than 1,000 member companies, the HBA represents an industry that contributes approximately $2.5 billion to the Kansas City economy, and supports more than 36,000 jobs in the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area.
After back-to-back down years for both new-home starts and sales, the Kansas City housing market is showing a swing in a positive direction. That was the message from the 2008 Housing Forecast presented Thursday, Jan. 17 by the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City (HBA). More than 425 housing professionals attended the forecast event at the Westin Crown Center Hotel.
Related Articles
Dan Whitney Presentation
Tim Underwood Presentation
Kansas City Star coverage Adobe PDF of The Star's forecast coverage
New-home inventory levels are falling quickly and home sales are poised to rebound in 2008, suggesting a stronger, more balanced housing market is right around the corner, according to Dan Whitney, president of the housing market research firm Landmarketing based in Overland Park.
“The local new housing market is in a state of positive transition,” Whitney explained to attendees at the annual housing forecast. “Inventory levels have dropped for the fourth quarter in a row and have fallen 15.4 percent from their all-time high in January 2007.”
Whitney said inventories will continue to fall given the 51 percent decrease in housing starts and 32.6 percent drop in new-home building permits. His forecast calls for new-home permits to dip slightly in 2008 before beginning a steady recovery in 2009 to the pre-housing boom levels of the late 1990s.
“While these corrections are difficult for the building industry, they are necessary to bring the supply in line with the demand,” Whitney said. “The appropriate level of new-home inventory is approximately 1,500 fewer than the current 4,188 homes. The supply and demand balance favors the buyer right now but inventory levels will drop fast creating a more balanced market.”
There were 1,421 more closings than starts in 2007, with Johnson and Clay counties accounting for the bulk of the reduction in inventory. Johnson County posted 490 more closings than starts, while Clay County reduced inventory by 410 homes.
Excess inventory should continue to move quickly in 2008. Whitney’s forecast calls for new-home closings to rebound 18 percent following a 10 percent decline in 2007. That would allow net inventory levels to drop to more normal levels. As a result, Whitney expects the best opportunities for consumers to occur earlier in the year before excess inventories are fully absorbed by the market.
While all prices ranges across the metro have a modest buildup in new-home inventories, Whitney said the degree of concern differs from location to location and price range to price range. In terms of prices, the extremes of the market have been the best performing in terms of inventory levels, with homes priced under $175,000 posting the lowest monthly supply on the market. The second-best performing price range is for homes priced more than $925,000.
The biggest buildup in inventory is among homes priced $225,000 to $625,000, yet Whitney said there are locations where that price range is performing well, such as in southwestern Jackson County and southern Leavenworth County.
Whitney said a key factor impacting Kansas City’s housing market correction is clearing the backlog of existing homes on the market. “The number one reason new-home shoppers give for not being able to take advantage of the housing values now is they cannot sell their existing home. Existing-home sales have to increase to allow buyers to purchase new homes.
While instability in the mortgage market sparked by the turmoil in subprime lending is faulted in some markets nationwide, Whitney said Kansas City is fairing much better than average in terms of mortgage accessibility and availability of credit.“The local mortgage situation is in great shape compared to the highly publicized areas around the country, particularly Florida, California, Michigan and Nevada,” he said. “This national coverage continues to overshadow the local relatively stable conditions in Kansas City and the Midwest.”
As the housing market begins its recovery, questions abound about what the new and improved housing market will look like. Underwood said focusing on the development of new housing choices and better connections between housing and transportation will allow residential construction to maintain its role as an economic engine for the region.
“We need to take a closer look at the demographic trends of our metro and establish a regional vision for housing choices that meet the needs and demands of local families,” Underwood said. “Housing affordability, employment, transportation and the economy are critical issues impacting today’s market. We need to address all of these concerns to ensure that we are building strong, vibrant neighborhoods for Kansas City new-home buyers.”
Whitney agreed with Underwood’s assessment that new housing choices driven by changing demographics and the housing needs of local families is critical to future success.
“There’s too much relying on crystal balls instead of market trends and facts,” Whitney said.
The Home Builders Association (HBA) of Greater Kansas City is the voice of the housing industry and the source for housing information. Comprising more than 1,000 member companies, the HBA represents an industry that contributes approximately $2.5 billion to the Kansas City economy, and supports more than 36,000 jobs in the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area.
Monday, January 7, 2008
K.C. Builders & Design: No housing slump here
K.C. Builders & Design
According to information recently published in The Kansas City Star, despite interest rates that have continued to drop in the past few months, consumer confidence has been affected by the many negative articles in print across the country that have been forecasting a melancholy real estate market.
The feature went on say that many local experts say that the subprime market experienced elsewhere in the country is quite the opposite of what is happening in the Midwest, and that both new and resale homes 5 years old and newer are still a great buy.
Builder Kelley Babb of K.C. Builders & Design echoed that assessment.
“People need to realize that in Kansas City we don’t have the peaks and valleys like the coastal areas of the country, which is where the (Associated Press writers) are located and basing their information,” Babb said.
“A few months ago there was an article about the sky falling, and all of the doom and gloom, and at the end it said, ‘This applies to everywhere but the Midwest.’ That needs to be in big bold letters to draw attention to it. It is damaging our market wholeheartedly, and it is not fair for the areas that are doing well.”
Babb maintains that because Kansas City is geographically located in the middle of the country, it is cost effective for big businesses to operate here in terms of logistics regarding shipping of goods, travel and so forth.
“Those businesses bring in new residents who are buying homes, and the good areas are still good. They are slower, but still good. The subprime confusion does not affect Johnson County as much.”
K.C. Builders & Design, operating since 1997, is a well-known and respected custom homebuilding firm working primarily in Overland Park, Olathe and Lenexa, Babb said. Its award-winning homes, priced from $375,000 to $700,000, are found in communities such as Polo Fields, Cedar Creek, Patrician Village, Deer Valley and Prairie Brook, the new maintenance provided community Ashford Villas.
“Creative designs and basement finishes from simple to elaborate are our specialty,” Babb said. “People like us because we change anything and everything in our plans. If you like the layout of the house but need a mudroom, let’s include it. If you want a spectacular basement, we can do it while we are building the home, or after you move in. There’s nothing that we cannot do.”
Working with the belief that building a new home should be an exciting and enjoyable process, the firm places great emphasis on good communication and great customer service.
“We have over 75 referral letters and these accolades are wonderful because we pride ourselves on catering to our clients and modifying our plans to accommodate their needs,” Babb said.
Another source of pride is the boutique size of the firm that comprises primarily family members.
“We are not a big operation, but we are very lean and efficient,” Babb said. “Every year since we have been in business, we have doubled our sales. Despite the market, we built 41 homes in 2007 and hope to exceed 50 in 2008. We have done well, and can’t build homes fast enough to keep up with the demand.”
K.C. Builders & Design will be featured in a 30-minute infomercial on “The Savvy Homebuyer,” tentatively scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Jan. 19, on WDAFTV
According to information recently published in The Kansas City Star, despite interest rates that have continued to drop in the past few months, consumer confidence has been affected by the many negative articles in print across the country that have been forecasting a melancholy real estate market.
The feature went on say that many local experts say that the subprime market experienced elsewhere in the country is quite the opposite of what is happening in the Midwest, and that both new and resale homes 5 years old and newer are still a great buy.
Builder Kelley Babb of K.C. Builders & Design echoed that assessment.
“People need to realize that in Kansas City we don’t have the peaks and valleys like the coastal areas of the country, which is where the (Associated Press writers) are located and basing their information,” Babb said.
“A few months ago there was an article about the sky falling, and all of the doom and gloom, and at the end it said, ‘This applies to everywhere but the Midwest.’ That needs to be in big bold letters to draw attention to it. It is damaging our market wholeheartedly, and it is not fair for the areas that are doing well.”
Babb maintains that because Kansas City is geographically located in the middle of the country, it is cost effective for big businesses to operate here in terms of logistics regarding shipping of goods, travel and so forth.
“Those businesses bring in new residents who are buying homes, and the good areas are still good. They are slower, but still good. The subprime confusion does not affect Johnson County as much.”
K.C. Builders & Design, operating since 1997, is a well-known and respected custom homebuilding firm working primarily in Overland Park, Olathe and Lenexa, Babb said. Its award-winning homes, priced from $375,000 to $700,000, are found in communities such as Polo Fields, Cedar Creek, Patrician Village, Deer Valley and Prairie Brook, the new maintenance provided community Ashford Villas.
“Creative designs and basement finishes from simple to elaborate are our specialty,” Babb said. “People like us because we change anything and everything in our plans. If you like the layout of the house but need a mudroom, let’s include it. If you want a spectacular basement, we can do it while we are building the home, or after you move in. There’s nothing that we cannot do.”
Working with the belief that building a new home should be an exciting and enjoyable process, the firm places great emphasis on good communication and great customer service.
“We have over 75 referral letters and these accolades are wonderful because we pride ourselves on catering to our clients and modifying our plans to accommodate their needs,” Babb said.
Another source of pride is the boutique size of the firm that comprises primarily family members.
“We are not a big operation, but we are very lean and efficient,” Babb said. “Every year since we have been in business, we have doubled our sales. Despite the market, we built 41 homes in 2007 and hope to exceed 50 in 2008. We have done well, and can’t build homes fast enough to keep up with the demand.”
K.C. Builders & Design will be featured in a 30-minute infomercial on “The Savvy Homebuyer,” tentatively scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Jan. 19, on WDAFTV
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