More than 2 out of 3 polled say the expiration of the federal home buyers’ tax credit will damage the housing market. The online survey asked respondents if the expiration of the U.S. government’s program would damage the market.
Some 68% said it would hurt markets in their recovery from the real estate crash manipulated by Wall Street traders and bankers to trigger the worst U.S. financial collapse since at least the Great Depression. Only 32% said it would not.
The tax credit provided first time home buyers up to $8,000 in federal tax credits and was expanded to include move-up buyers, but came to an end April 30th. The housing market saw an upswing in home sales as a result of the tax incentive coupled with low mortgage rates and declining home prices.
Record foreclosures have supplied a large inventory of discount priced homes for buyers taking advantage of the program. More than 7-million homes have been foreclosed since the crisis started nearly three years ago. However, home prices throughout the majority of the country continue to decline and foreclosures are climbing.
A dozen government programs started at the direction of the Obama administration have produced a rise in home sales, including the tax credits. However, stabilization in housing markets has only developed in some of the hardest hit areas, including places in California, Ohio and Michigan.
The real estate crash has contributed heavily to the nation’s economic turmoil with an estimated 12-million homeowners in default of mortgages. How much or how little the damage to markets will be following the expiration of the tax credits is nearly impossible to determine.
The federal tax credit for home buyers has expired. Do you feel its expiration will have a damaging impact on the housing market?
Yes – 68% No – 32%
To see the previous poll results from 2010 click here.
To see poll archives from 2010 click here.