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 East Lansing, MI

Latitude: 42.740384 -- Longitude: -84.481675

Other Area Cities: East Lansing Forest Hills Holt Lansing Okemos Haslett Mason

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The settlement of East Lansing began around 1847, the same year nearby Lansing was made the capital of the state of Michigan. Downtown East Lansing was an important junction of two major Native American trails: the Okemah Road, and the Park Lake Trail. By 1850, the Lansing and Howell Plank Road Company was established to connect a toll road to the Detroit and Howell Plank Road, improving travel between Detroit and Lansing, which cut right through what is now East Lansing. The toll road was finished in 1853, and included seven tollhouses between Lansing and Howell. Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University) was founded in 1855 and established in what is now East Lansing in 1857. For the first four decades, the students and faculty lived almost entirely on the College campus. A few commuted from Lansing, and that number increased when the streetcar line was built in the 1890s, but there were few places to live in the then-rural area immediately around the campus. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Michigan 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	East Lansing	Michigan	United States
Population	46,525	9,938,444	281,421,906
Median age	21.7	35.5	35.3
Median age for Male	21.9	34.3	34
Median age for Female	21.5	36.6	36.5
Households	14,390	3,785,661	105,480,101
Household population	31,952	9,688,555	273,643,273
Average household size	2.22	2.56	2.59
Families	5,090	2,575,699	71,787,347
Average family size	2.82	3.1	3.14
Housing units	15,321	4,234,279	115,904,641
Occupied units	14,390	3,785,661	105,480,101
Vacant units	931	448,618	10,424,540

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