The Boise Valley: October 2009

According to Realtytrac, The Boise Valley was in the top three metro areas with increases, over the past year, in foreclosures.  Specifically, third quarter foreclosures are projected to be 4,157, or 1.76% of the market (that's 1 in 57!).  This represents a surge of 22.16% over the same quarter from last year and moves into the top 20 in the nation.  The national average is projected to be .73% which represents an increase of 22.5%.
CLICK HERE for the entire article from RealtyTrac.

Well, we just got a little confirmation concerning the Homebuyer Tax Credit.  Apparntly an endorsement by the Administration has just been announced to extend and expand the Homebuyer Tax Credit.  If enacted it would entail the following:

• Allow current homeowners who buy a new home qualify for a $6,500 credit as long as they have lived at their current residence for 5 years.
• The income limit would increase from $75K to $125K for individuals and from $150K to $250 for couples.
• The expiration date would be extended from November 30th of this year to April 30th, 2010 with a 60 day allowance beyond that date to close the transaction.

This is excellent news for us here in The Boise Valley and should contribute significanly to any market recovery in the near future.

I guess this is a perfect topic for me to write my first official blog post!  While there have been "rumors" for some time concerning an extension to the First Time Buyers Credit it appears that we should see something within the next week.

Senator Reid and other senior Democrats in the Senate have apparently reached an agreement to extend the expiring $8K tax credit for first-time home buyers, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said Tuesday.

This is great news as "New Home" sales were down 3.6% last month.  My feeling is this is a direct result of the credit program sunsetting.  While the home inventory here in The Boise Valley is slowly coming down this is great news and will hopefully buoy the local market through the slower winter months.