Marie Walton, ABR, CRS, GRI, SRES

The President will sign tomorrow an extension of the first time home buyer tax credit. The new legislation extends the credit until April 30 ,2010 to have a home under contract and it must close by June 30, 2010.

The $8,000 max remains the same.

In the bill is a new credit for existing homeowners who want to purchase a home. Buyers who have lived in their home 5 out of the last 8 years will be eligible for a $6,500 credit.

The income limits have been raised to $225,000 for a couple and there is a cap of $800,000 on the purchase price of the home.

Of course, you should check with your accountant or CPA to make sure you are eligible.

This is probably a once in a life time opportunity to get a tax credit for the purchase of a home and interest rates are extremely low so if you have been sitting on the fence it's time to get off!

The Case-Shiller Home Price Index for August came out today. The report found that the D-FW area was down by 1.2% from a year ago. This is close to the 2% drop reported by NTREIS (our local MLS). The 2 reports measure home prices differently so some difference should be expected.

The Case- Shiller report also indicated that D-FW homes prices were only off by 4% from their high of June 2007.

Our market has faired much better that any other major market in the country. We have been luck not have the massive numbers of foreclosures that other markets have experienced.

Of course the real question if you are a Seller is"What's happening to prices in my neighborhood and what is my house worth?"

And if you are a Buyer, "What is the house I want to buy worth?".

The only way to answer those questions is to get an appraisal or the advise from a REALTOR who is familiar with the neighborhood.

NORTH OF NORTHWEST HWY. AND SOUTH OF LBJ:

There was a pick up in sales in this area in September but the average sales price continued to erode. Pending sales picked up along with the number of new listings. The number of active listing was flat. There continues to be an over supply on the market with a 17 month supply of homes for sale. Million dollar homes make up over 1/3 of the inventory in this area and they are very slow to sell.

Sales: 48 a 17% increase

Average sales price: $889,828 a 9% decrease

Median sales price: $650,000 a 2% increase

Days on market: 135 a 41% increase

Pending sales: 39 a 39% increase

New listings: 118 a 15% increase

Active listings: 612 a 0% increase

Months of inventory: 17

NORTH DALLAS NORTH OF LBJ:

Sales were down slightly in September and we saw a decline in the average sales price while the median sales price was flat. Days on market increased. Pending sales were off along with the number of active listings. The decline in inventory of homes for sale in this area is helping to keep supply/demand somewhat in balance.

Sales: 69 a 4% decrease

Average sales price: $294,761 an 8% decrease

Median sales price: 269,750 a 0% increase

Days on market: 66 a 22% increase

Pending sales: 63 a 10% decrease

New listings: 117 a 2% increase

Active listings: 444 a 12% decrease

Months of inventory: 6.1

Effective October 12th, the major mortgage insurance companies will be changing their guidelines in regards to property flipping. The new requirements are:

• If the seller acquired the property fewer than 90 days from the date of the

purchase contract, the loan is ineligible.

• If the seller acquired the property more than 90 days but fewer than 180

days from the date of purchase contract, the loan requires a manual MGIC

underwrite. Form 1004 / 70 will be required.

• The following property sales/transfers are not required to meet this policy

where the seller is:

1. A lender, mortgage investor or a mortgage insurance company

that acquired the property as a result of a foreclosure

or a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

2. A spouse who acquired the property through a divorce settlement.

3. An employer that acquired the property through its relocation

program.

4. An administrator, executor, or personal representative selling

property of an estate.

What does this mean to you as a buyer?

Well if you contract for a property after this date and the property has been not be owned by the seller and does not meet one of the exceptions you simply will not get a loan on the property and you will have wasted your time and money.

If the property falls under the 90 to 180 days guidelines the seller will probably have to provide information as to the types of improvements and their costs that the seller did to the property. This will take additional time and there is the possibility that the loan will not go through.

Before you as a buyer make an offer on a property, I would recommend that you have your agent check on how long the current owner has owned the property.

The Nation Association of Realtors released their Nations Sales Report for August today and I thought it might be helpful to compared the Richardson market to the national market.

The National Association of Realtors reported sales nationally were of by 2.7% in AAugust compared to August of last year. The median price fell by 12.7% and there was a 8.5 months supply on the market.

Our local MLS numbers for August in the Richardson area show sales were flat at 0%. The median sales price declined by only 2% and the months of inventory was 2.9 months.

The Richardson market is holding up very well as compared to the Nation Market and will continue to do so as long as the supply of homes for sale remains low.