NBN Online for the week of October 19, 2009

Lawmakers Look at Home Buyer Tax Credit to Spur Jobs

Facing mounting concerns over the bleak outlook for jobs, more lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week showed interest in extending and possibly expanding the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit that is set to expire on Nov. 30.

However, political observers at NAHB cautioned that renewing the popular credit is still far from a done deal, with a number of lawmakers reluctant to act unless Congress imposes offsetting tax increases or spending cuts.

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Lumber Prices Provided by Random Lengths

50+ Housing Sales Slump at the End of the Road

The year ahead looks increasingly positive for the active adult housing market, according to participants at an Oct. 7 Web seminar sponsored by the NAHB's 50+ Housing Council. But joblessness and tighter credit conditions still linger as constraints on sales and construction activity, they said, and in the early stages of recovery prospective buyers will continue to be price-conscious and to demonstrate restraint.

“It’s not the time to run out and start great developments at this moment,” cautioned Margaret Wylde, president and CEO of ProMatura Group, LLC, who led an hour-long discussion on prospects for the 50+ market. But, she said, “there’s going to be a gradual pull out from where we are now, and within the next two years we will see a significant rebound.”