The extension of the tax credit sailed through both houses and is expected to be signed by Obama in the morning. This extends the credit to houses purchased by April 30th and you must close by the end of June. $8k for new buyers and $6500 for people that have owned for at least 5 years. The income limits for the credit were also increased to $125k single, $250k joint. I think that covers most of us, and if you don't fall into those limits count your lucky stars.
.................
In other news, Fannie lost nearly 19 BILLION last quarter! They are running back to the Fed for more cash. They are asking for another $15 Billion. Now my math might be fuzzy but if you are losing nearly 19 billion a quarter what good is asking for $15 billion unless you plan of asking for more 2 months from now.
.................
Mortgage rates have just dipped below 5% again. That's good news for those folks that are looking to buy or refi. Don't get too excited though it's only just under 5% (4.98% average 30 yr)
................
And Redfin is all honked up....I don;t know if anyone else noticed. They are trying to do some upgrades but it just seems to have screwed it up. Half the time it loads and the other half it times out.
13 comments:
Hey X, I bought a house in Jan 2009. I last owned a home before that in August 2003. I rented a house from Aug 2003 through Jan 2009, and many called me stupid for that.
At least I'm not underwater, like those savvy homedebtors....
Anyways, since I make about $105K a year, am I still eligible for the new home buyers tax credit.
By the way I'm single, so a wife's income won't be relevant or affect me tax wise..
Adrock5151: you are not. Single status home purchase between 1/1/09->11/31/09 limit is $75k.
This is a historic step taken by Obama administration. I would say this will definitely help the real estate market to recover from the housing bubble.
Vanguard Funds
Excuse us if we think you are full of it! This is another pathetic step by the gov to try and keep the air in the bubble for a little bit longer. They are going to throw away another 20 BILLION dollars on this ridiculous tax credit that generates very few additional sales. FAR FEWER additional sales than lower prices would generate.
sent out a bad link the last comment; this one should work... what ever happened to this... and don't we learn from our mistakes?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091022/ap_on_go_co/us_homebuyers_tax_credit
Congress scrutinizes problems with homebuyer credit
Jack: I agree it sucks but since all the deadbeats get all the bailouts, hopefully I can take advantage of this one. If you can't beat them, join them.
Golfer_X: So u still think inflation isn't an issue?
http://blogs.reuters.com/rolfe-winkler/2009/11/11/chart-of-the-day-the-dow-priced-in-gold/
Nope still don't
I do think there is a huge commodities bubble though, Waiting for the POP!
I'm sure you know who hedge fund manager John Paulson is. He made the greatest trade OF ALL TIME. $15 billion in one year. He's betting against you.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/221924
"ut as the book closes, he's buying gold, which doesn't strike me as a particularly out-of-the-box bet in this climate.
He's very good at synthesizing and making some complex topics very simple. And he's made it into a simple argument: the expanded supply of money and the fiat currency is under pressure, and what's the only thing that holds up when the fiat currency is under pressure? It's gold."
I have no problem buying gold as an investment. Whatever floats your boat. But remember, gold (like real estate) also goes down. I remember gold being near $1000/oz back in 1979.
I just don't think inflation is going to skyrocket in the near term. Now 3 to 5 years down the road I think there is a very real chance it will take off. But right now I just don't thinks so. If inflation takes off it will destroy the country. The economy is far too fragile right now to weather a period of high inflation.
Sure the value of the dollar is dropping and eventually it may hit a point that all those fancy European cars become too expensive for us to buy. Then what? Same argument for those Asian electronics. What happens when the US stops buying or taking vacations in Europe and Asia? They gonna sell those TVs and Beemers to the people in India? Oh wait they will all be out of work because the US companies most of them work for won't be able to afford to pay them with our useless currency. Who is gonna fill all those hotel rooms in Paris and Rome?
I guess I am just not a big fan of the de-coupling theory. Sure currencies can fluctuate but for a major currency to tank and not take others with it seems unlikely. Besides Asia and Europe both own a lot of dollars. If they let their own currencies become to strong their US dollars become devalued.
But then again I'm an engineer and I think logically. Logic very rarely comes into play in finance and politics. So I'm probably way wrong.....
Post a Comment