Home Buying Tax Credit Set to Expire

First-time home buyers and current home owners who want to move up have until April 30, 2010, to get an accepted offer if they want to take advantage of the federal tax credit. That's the date the program will expire, and both the housing industry and Congress are saying that the deadline will not be extended again: Los Angeles Times

Review a quick summary on how the tax credit works.

Foreclosures? Price & Sales Are Up

Home prices in Southern California have gone up seven straight months in a row, including November ... which is usually a slow month. On top of that, the number of sales is up almost 15% over the same month last year: LA Times

What's driving all this? Simple: really low interest rates, relatively cheap prices, and the federal tax credit. It sure isn't foreclosures: there are only 94 on the market at the moment throughout the entire city of Long Beach, and people usually swarm them with offers to bid the price up.

Mortgage Interest Rate Hits Record Low

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to a record low of 4.71% the week of November 30, pushed down by an aggressive government campaign to reduce borrowing costs.

Buyer's Market or Seller's Market? Depends ...

Something that every buyer AND seller should know is the "months of inventory" (definition) in the current market niche. This information tells us whether it is a buyer's market or a seller's market. Important, because the info prevents buyers from paying more than they should, and it guides sellers into pricing their home so that they will sell ... and for not less than they should.

Here's how the buyer's market/seller's market scenario stacks up in Long Beach for the previous 12 months ending in November:

• Single family residences, all of Long Beach, no lower or upper price limit: Inventory decreased from 946 homes for sale to 495. We have just barely a seller's market
• Single family residences, all of Long Beach, under $450,000: Inventory decreased from 621 homes for sale to 235. We have a fairly solid seller's market
• Single family residences, all of Long Beach, from $650,000-$1M: Inventory decreased from a total of 250 homes for sale to 180. We have a very strong buyer's market
• Condos, all of Long Beach, no lower or upper price limit: Inventory decreased from a total of 544 homes for sale to 318. We have a solidly neutral market
• Condos, all of Long Beach, under $400,000: Inventory decreased from 403 homes for sale to 199.This is just barely a seller's market
• Condos, all of Long Beach, from $450,000-$600,000: Inventory decreased from 62 homes for sale to 31.This is almost a buyer's market

This information is available for all communities, not just Long Beach, it can be applied to any price range, and it can be geographically narrowed down to zip codes. This is must-know information.