According to an article that I read today in the Metro West Daily News entitled, “Housing market shows progress”, Home sales are have risen over the last few weeks, as have median home values. This article attributes the rise in sales and prices to first-time homebuyers who have taken advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit and bought homes. This tax credit expires on December 1 of this year.
To qualify for the $8,000 tax credit, a person cannot have owned a home in the past three years (vacation homes do not count, only principal residences. There is also an income limit for single and married buyers. If you are not familiar with the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, or if you would like to find out how you can take advantage of this credit, please visit the First-Time Homebuyer Credit page at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204671,00.html.
This upward trend in sales and median home values isn’t unique to the New England area however. According to the national Association of Realtors all major regions across the US are also showing signs of improvement with regards to single-family home and condo sales. The NAR reported a 3.6% increase in existing home sales in June and that sales have now risen for 3 months in a row, the last time sales were that good was five years ago. The icing on the cake is that June sales jumped 7.2%, the largest month-to month increase in the last 10 years.
Please click the following link if you would like to see recent sales figures for single-family homes in the MetroWest.
