On the local level, what we've seen of the Augusta/CSRA real estate market is, in some respects, a microcosm of the national real estate market - new construction as well as existing home sales are both on a long but steady (and encouraging) road to recovery, but banks are still making it ridiculously difficult for the average man to contribute to this recovery. The "For Sale" signs are still out there, especially the ones that are in front of homes that refuse to adjust their prices to market demands. But seeing less congestion of these signs where only a few months back it seemed there were as many as there are mailboxes is a sure sign that we're headed back toward a stabilization of home prices. In short, it seems that the faith in real estate as the best investment a person can make - even if it's the one that that person lives in - is being restored, but the lending institutions have yet to buy into that same faith.
Auben Homes, as a company, is still churning out rentals and homes for sale. A steady demand of both adds some credence to the old adage that "people will always need a place to live." Check out some of our newest available homes for sale, or if you're in the market for a rental, check here.
Perhaps the most exciting news to hit the national front is that of the extension of the first-time homebuyer federal tax credit. We had believed this to be coming for months now. However, like Area 51, George H.W. Bush's "No New Taxes" and stating that Bin Laden is hiding in Iraq, our venerable government doesn't always say what it means. Seeing it in writing was especially exciting.
Here are the specifics:
- Homes purchased under the "first-time homebuyer" qualification (again, if you haven't purchased a home ever, or, for at least three years) from January 1, 2009 all the way to April 30, 2010, you're still down for the $8,000 tax credit.
- The rule of "10 percent of total home price up to $80,000 still applies.
- The big difference is, if you buy the house after November 6 of this year (which has already passed), the income limitations are expanded to include those earning less that $125,000 single or $225,000 jointly, an allowance of an extra $50,000 for single taxpayers, or $75,000 for married couples.
- Also, if you have a house under contract by April 30, 2010, you have until the end of June 2010 to buy a house and still qualify.
- On top of all of this, we also have the "Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act" (that's a long title) which has established a tax credit of $6,500 to those who are buying a house as their principle residence, within the same time period and by the same percentage-of-home-price-up-to-$65,000 measure as above. It applies to any homebuyer that purchases a home, whether it's his/her first or fifteenth or hundredth, as long as it's their principle residence. In other words, if you're buying a third house in Aspen, you don't qualify. Nor do you need to qualify.
This is huge. Not only does it mean that a very large percentage of individuals that would've missed the deadline on their first home purchase tax credit now have an extra six months to find that perfect home and still get the credit, but the income requirements have gone more lenient and it doesn't have to be your first home.
I see this as a open admittance that the government realizes how important to our nation's infrastructure homeownership is. Having people who own a physical stake in the country does wonders for that country - for more reasons than I can count, but consider this reason:
People who own are less likely than renters to pick up and move to another if the economy of that area slows. They tough it out; there's no exodus. People who own homes take better care of their communities. It's a fact. Government knows this, and it knows that the homebuyer tax credits it has enacted are going to be the blocks upon which our country's economy is soon rebuilt.
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