Brief Opportunity:Owner-Buyer Tax Credits

Have you heard about the new tax credit  for buyers who are not first-time buyers?  (Yes, the $8,000 tax credit has been extended for first-time buyers, but) Congress also passed a $6,500 tax credit for buyers who currently own.  This is for all the people who have been waiting to move up to a larger home, downsize to a more manageable home, or move on due to life or job changes. 

Prices in Chester County and nearby parts of Lancaster County have more or less stabilized in the past year.  Morgage interest rates are quite low (5-6%).  If you add this $6,500 tax credit, it makes this a great time to sell your current home and look for a new one.

Heads up: You need to act quickly, because this window of opportunity closes April 30, 2010.  That’s the last day for you to get your new home under binding contract, then you must settle on it by June 30th.

There are certain qualifications you must meet: must have owned your home for at least 5 years, can’t buy new home over $800,000,  income limits, and new home can’t be vacation home, but must be used as primary residence.  Just call or email Laurie at 610-322-5843 or lknecht@comcast.net  if you’d like a Tax Credit Chart mailed or emailed to you with further details.  

 Also contact Laurie if you’d like her to help you get your home on the market as soon as possible so you’ll have plenty of time to find a buyer and your new home before this wonderful window of opportunity closes!

Coatesville School District - Home Price Trends

I wondered how much home values had increased since 2000, when the highest values occurred and what the values have been in the last few years. As a realtor, I went onto our Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to find out. A little background info: the last hot housing market was in the late 1980s. Prices peaked in June, 1990, then adjusted down about 10% over the next couple of yrs. The rest of the 1990s prices were stable, neither rising nor falling.

Our recent hot real estate market began in 2000. At that time the price of the average home in CASD was $128,021. By 2004 the price of the average home in CASD had risen to $192,373. CASD prices peaked in 2006, when the average home price was $241,102. This was an increase of 88%! CASD includes: City of Coatesville, Boroughs of Modena & South Coatesville, & Townships of East Fallowfield, Sadsbury, Valley, West Caln, West Brandywine and Caln. Each of these localities benefitted from the tremendous price increases.

OK, so what happened in CASD after 2006? In 2007 the price of the average home fell approx. $10,000 to $230,873. In 2008 the average CASD home fell another $10,000. So what does this mean for CASD homeowners who are thinking they would like to sell their homes this year or next? See next week’s blog by Laurie, our Seller Specialist.

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