With several bills circulating on Capitol Hill related to extending the home buyer tax credit program, Big Builder Online recently asked readers about how they’re preparing for the possibility that the tax credit is expanded to all buyers of principal residences.
When asked how effective a tax credit expansion would be on the move-up market, 48.4% of respondents said it would be very effective and 37.1% said it would be somewhat effective. The remainder of the respondents were split evenly between somewhat ineffective, very ineffective, and unsure, each with 4.8% of the results.
“Even though buyers do not have much equity with which to move up very far, they will be better able to sell their current home and hopefully get things started again,” noted one respondent.
Another respondent said, “Appraisal issues and maximum mortgage limits will continue to impede the move-up market, however a tax credit would help.”
Only 21% of the respondents said they were planning new move-up product, while almost half–46.8%–said no plans were in their future. The remaining 32.3% said they will wait to see what Congress does before starting anything new in this product segment.
More than half of the respondents–62.9%–said they were concerned with financing for move-up buyers. However, 25.8% of the respondents said they were not worried about this issue, and 11.3% were still on the fence.
