On Friday, July 2, President Obama signed two important pieces of legislation into law to help homebuyers.
The first one extends the closing deadline for the homebuyer tax credit until September 30, 2010, for any transactions that had ratified contracts in place as of April 30, 2010, but did not close by the June 30, 2010, deadline. The legislation creates a seamless extension, and therefore, there will be no gap between June 30 and the date the President signed the bill into law.
Due to the high volume of home sale transactions that needed to be closed by June 30, there were up to 180,000 homebuyers who were eligible for the tax credit, but were unable to close before the deadline. The extension will enable the majority of these home sales to close, and for the buyers to receive the tax credit.
In addition, the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides flood insurance to homeowners in participating communities in flood-prone areas who could not otherwise obtain coverage due to cost or ineligibility, was also extended until September 30, 2010. As a result, buyers in these areas can now obtain mortgages and transactions can move forward. This bill is retroactive and covers the lapse period from June 1, 2010, to the date of enactment of the extension.
In local news – 20 Old Coach Road closed last week for $850,000. There were 39 closings during the last 10 days of June, 34 of these were under $800,000 and therefore likely qualified for the tax credit. There were 20 contract sales – proving (to me anyway) that the market in Basking Ridge is still moving! Inventory levels are under 5 months – a relatively balanced market. If you are considering a move into or out of Basking Ridge, I’m happy to help. Start with a search for available townhouse or condos or single family homes – you can search by price range.
