First-time homebuyers have been getting tax credits of up to $8,000 since January as part of the economic stimulus package enacted earlier this year. But with the program scheduled to expire at the end of November, the House voted 403-12 Thursday to extend and expand the tax credit to include many buyers who already own homes. The Senate approved the measure Wednesday, and the White House said President Barack Obama would sign it Friday.
Buyers who have owned their current homes at least five years would be eligible for tax credits of up to $6,500. First-time homebuyers - or anyone who hasn't owned a home in the last three years - would still get up to $8,000. To qualify, buyers in both groups have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30.
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The homebuyers tax credit is one of two tax breaks totaling more than $21 billion that was included in a bill extending unemployment benefits for those without a job for more than a year. The other would let companies now losing money recoup taxes they paid on profits earned in the previous five years.
WaPo
Meanwhile, the pace of job losses has slowed:
Private-sector employment declined 203,000 in October, the seventh-straight month of moderating job losses and the smallest decline since July 2008, according to a report released Wednesday by payroll firm Automatic Data Processing Inc.
Meanwhile, job cuts announced by employers declined for the third-straight month, down 16% from September to 55,679, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said. That was the best reading since March 2008 and less than half the cuts made in October 2008.WSJ
