Proposed Tax Credit 2009 Stimulus Package

November 20, 2008

Stimulus News: Currently the Stimulus package is considering a proposed $15,000 tax credit, which applies to all home purchases -- not just new homes and not just first time buyers. It is sponsored by Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, a former real estate broker. He said it was modeled after a similar, $2,000 homebuyer incentive that helped lead the country out of recession in 1975. The tax credit would give buyers 10 percent of the price of a primary residence bought within one year, up to $15,000, and is intended to stabilize plummeting home prices. The amendment would allow taxpayers to claim the credit on their 2008 income tax return and to spread the tax credit over two years. It also seeks to prevent misuse by only allowing purchases of a principle residence and by recapturing the credit if the home is sold within two years of purchase.

The U.S. Senate on Friday also approved an amendment to an economic stimulus bill that would direct $50 billion in funds from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program to foreclosure mitigation efforts. This program is estimated to prevent approximately 2 million foreclosures. The amendment also forces changes in the federal government's $300 billion Hope for Homeowners program to increase participation. Under the amendment, homeowners would have to share 25% of future equity in their home, rather than the current 50% requirement.

In other news:
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its index of pending home sales, which measures contracts signed but not closed, rose 6.3% to 87.7 in December from a month earlier.

Moody's Economy.com cites signs that home sales are stabilizing as people snap up bargains on foreclosures, a decline in the supply of unsold homes in many areas and expectations of moves by the Obama Administration "that will help place a floor under the housing downturn." Those measures could include lowering mortgage rates further, preventing more foreclosures and generating jobs through higher federal spending.

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Local Information for Portland, OR

Latitude: 45.52304 -- Longitude: -122.640155

Other Area Cities: Hillsboro Portland Beaverton Lake Oswego Milwaukie Oak Grove Raleigh Hills Tigard Tualatin Vancouver West Slope Oregon City Troutdale Gresham

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Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon, and county seat of Multnomah County. It straddles the Willamette River immediately south of its confluence with the Columbia River. Portland is the third largest city in the Pacific Northwest after Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia, with a population of 556,370 (July 1, 2005 estimate).[1] Approximately 2 million live in the surrounding metropolitan area (MSA), the 24th-largest in the U.S. Portland is known as "The City of Roses" or "Rose City" — its climate is ideal for their cultivation, and the city has many rose gardens, including the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park. Other nicknames include "Stumptown" (due to early logging to clear land for development), "Bridgetown" (due to its numerous bridges), "Puddletown" (due to the rainy weather), "River City" (due to its proximity to the Willamette and Columbia), "PDX" (after the city's airport code), and "P-town". -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Oregon 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Portland	Oregon	United States
Population	529,121	3,421,399	281,421,906
Median age	35.2	36.3	35.3
Median age for Male	34.2	35.1	34
Median age for Female	36.2	37.5	36.5
Households	223,737	1,333,723	105,480,101
Household population	514,129	3,343,908	273,643,273
Average household size	2.3	2.51	2.59
Families	118,447	877,671	71,787,347
Average family size	3	3.02	3.14
Housing units	237,307	1,452,709	115,904,641
Occupied units	223,737	1,333,723	105,480,101
Vacant units	13,570	118,986	10,424,540

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