The State of Ulster County Real Estate, The First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit, and other thoughts…..

Posted by John Murphy on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 9:48am.

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 I’m John Murphy, Principal Broker of the Murphy Realty Group, which is located in Historic Uptown Kingston. I just wanted to take a few moments to write down some thoughts on the current state of the Real Estate market in Ulster County, and the Federal program that will, I believe, provide us some relief.

 

Regardless of your individual positions in regards to the housing market in our area,

I believe that all would agree that we are wallowing in a crisis, which is a result of market forces well beyond our control. Therefore, it is my belief that the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit, the original program, and the current subsequent extension which passed the U.S. Senate on 11/04, and will dedicate $45 billion dollars to extend and expand the program, is a critical requirement to assist the nations housing market in working through what is thus far, a jobless recovery. I have advocated for the original program, and applaud the expansion of the program to include those that currently own homes, including the expansion of income requirements for participants. I would guess that upwards of 60% of the pending deals locally are attempting to qualify for this credit, so the extension of this program is essential. Otherwise, the coming months will be harsh beyond what Mother Nature will deliver to us!

 

It goes without saying that in order for the Real Estate Market to fully recover, other aspects of the national economy need to heat up. I mentioned jobs as probably the largest issue facing our clients. The uncertainty of future earning will freeze a client from looking for a home, no matter how good the deal. Thus the hired help in Washington D.C. really need to focus on a jobs recovery program, and stop the insider’s game of projecting job numbers which can’t be quantified or supported. Recently the AP and the New York Times have each taken to task the government for falsely reporting job numbers to bolster and support the enormous amount of tax payer dollars already spent. The average worker will know when their level of comfort expands, and falsely reporting statistics won’t make this occur any faster.

 

So here is hoping that the House of Representative will pass the Senate version without amendment and a conference committee, because time is of the essence. A break in programs does nothing to assist in slimming down housing stock and giving us an opportunity to absorb the short sales and foreclosures that have yet to peak.

 

Any thoughts?     

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