'Tis the Season to Purchase your Next Home

The original 1st time home buyer tax credit was set to expire on November 30, 2009.  During the week of November 23-30, 2009, 1st time home buyers in Columbus and surrounding communities racked up 577 Central Ohio Homes Sales.  That’s up 41% from same week last year.

Was the original 1st time home buyer tax credit a resounding success in terms of getting buyers into homes? I think that 41% increase says yes. You’d have to look beyond the face of it though. How many of those buyers would have bought a home anyway?

Interest rates these last two quarters have been hovering around historic lows–that should be enough of an incentive to get most buyers off the fence. Most of the first time buyers I worked with this year would have bought anyway and were maybe just a little more motivated by the tax credit which was seen as icing on the cake of homeownership.

Also, how many of those Columbus area homes purchased by 1st time buyers were Columbus short sales or Columbus foreclosures? I don’t think Central Ohio has seen the anticipated cause and effect relationship  the tax credit was supposed to begin–namely, noticeable increases in 2nd time buyers moving up into more expensive homes and so on. The tax credit buyers were supposed to start a domino effect of trickle-up housing economics and while there did seem to be a plethora of first time buyers out there in Columbus, higher end housing-let’s say $400,000 and up-hasn’t felt the anticipated repercussions of that boon.