Time is running out for Homebuyer Income Tax Credit

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is bringing bad news to buyers and sellers today.  It appears there is not going to be another extension, which many assumed might happen, to the Homebuyer Income Tax Credit which expires April 30, 2010.  Here's what they're reporting:

Federal government wants to sell you a home

WASHINGTON - Sales are brisk for South Florida homes hawked by the federal government in the wake of the Great Recession.

Uncle Sam and two government-sponsored companies are unloading property, from waterside mansions to burned-out shells, often at fire-sale prices 10 percent to 20 percent below market value.

The wave of foreclosed property in distressed regions like South Florida has forced the government, along with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, to become major movers of real estate to clear a growing inventory of empty homes.

IRS Offers Tips for Year-End Donations

WASHINGTON — Individuals and businesses making contributions to charity should keep in mind several important tax law provisions that have taken effect in recent years.

Some of these changes include the following:

Special Charitable Contributions for Certain IRA Owners

This provision, currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2009, offers older owners of individual retirement accounts (IRAs) a different way to give to charity. An IRA owner, age 70½ or over, can directly transfer tax-free up

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US mortgage applications driven up by refinancings

By Lynn Adler NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Demand for U.S. home loans rose last week to the highest level in about two months, mostly from borrowers taking advantage of low mortgage rates to refinance, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday. Nearly three of every four loan requests was for a refinancing rather than a purchase, pointing to caution with unemployment at a double-digit rate and fear of job loss prevalent. Total mortgage applications, based on the group's seasonally adjusted market index, rose 8.5 percent to 665.6 last week to the highest since early October.

CNBC's Diana Olick has the latest real estate headlines.

As mortgage rates sink, decide whether to buy now or wait

Interest rates on the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage dipped to a 38-year low this week, giving consumers another reason to consider purchasing a home or refinancing their current one.

Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on a 30-year loan was 4.71 percent with an average 0.7 point, the lowest rate since the agency began its weekly tracking of long-term interest rates in 1971. A point is equal to 1 percent of the loan amount, payable as a lump sum at closing.

The decline wasn't overly dramatic. After all, the average rate in last week's survey was a still-stellar 4.78 percent, tying the previous all-time low set in June.
Still, the dip is likely to get people wondering whether it's time to sign on the dotted line.

QUESTION: Why are rates so low?

The Treasury Department released guidelines and forms for its new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA). HAFA is part of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). HAFA provides incentives in connection with a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure (DIL) used to avoid foreclosure on a loan eligible for modification under the HAMP program. HAFA applies to loans not owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which will issue their own versions of HAFA in coming weeks.

Banks Take Losses on Short Sales as Foreclosures Soar (Update1)

By John Gittelsohn and Margaret Collins

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Drew Schlosser tried for two years to sell his three-bedroom Punta Gorda, Florida, waterfront condominium for less than he owed on its two mortgages. The deal only went through last month when Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to take a $165,000 loss on the loans.
Even after he had an offer of $155,000 for the property, it took five months for the San Francisco-based lender to approve the purchase, a so-called short sale, in which the bank accepts less than the balance owed on a property. Schlosser said earlier offers had fallen through as bidders lost faith the bank would take less than the $320,000 in two mortgages.
“It was just kind of a mess,” said Schlosser, 31, a market research company director living in Estero, Florida. “You really have to get buyers who are patient.”

Mortgage rates hit rock bottom

By Harriet Johnson Brackey South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Mortgage interest rates have dropped to an all-time low, which experts say could cheer the depressed South Florida housing market.

The average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.71, Freddie Mac, the federally run mortgage finance company, reported Thursday. That's the lowest recorded since Freddie Mac first started weekly mortgage rate surveys in 1971. Rates dropped 0.07 percent since last week.

For prospective homebuyers, "The sharp drop in home prices, tax credits and now record low mortgage rates put a lot of affordability in your quarter," said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com in North Palm Beach.

The latest buzz in the market

FHA is cracking down on bad loans, raising credit score standards and increasing premiums.  Mortgage applications are up for both purchase loans and refinance loans.

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