Jump Start Mt Pleasant and US Housing Sector By Expanding Tax Credit
Note: Gooden+Faircloth has been informed by National Association of Realtors representatives the plan described below is likely to become reality within the next few weeks. Both Congressman Henry Brown and Senator Lindsey Graham support the plan.
The Democratic Leadership Council was formed during the Bill Clinton presidential years. It is known for its moderate positions, positions which often mirror classic moderate Republican positions.
The DLC has recently released a report which it believes contains the key to reinvigorating the American economy. Gooden + Faircloth agrees.
According to the DLC, reticence among many potential home buyers to move into the market is preventing recovery. Few doubt that the housing bubble’s implosion drove the nation into its current recession. The authors suggest that an upswing in the housing market could also play a crucial role in turning the broader economy around.
Newly-installed DLC CEO Bruce Reed commented: “The housing market helped start this economic crisis. Getting homes moving again is crucial to speed the nations recovery.”
The Report, titled Moving Houses: How Sparking a Housing Recovery Is The Key To America’s Economic Recovery, makes several recommendations, including:
- Expand the $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit to individual and family homeowners looking to move or buy a new home, regardless of whether they previously owned another. This expansion is estimated to cost $11.4 billion;
- Limit the credit by ensuring it expires at the end of the year, forcing those intent on taking advantage of the credit to get into the market in the short term; and
- Ensure that homeowners have access to the credit at closing by directing the Secretary of HUD and/or the Secretary of the Treasury to use existing authority (possibly through the Home Program or the Troubled Asset Relief Program) to set up a fund that would advance some of the down payment and closing costs.
Among the report’s key findings:
- The turning point in five of the last seven recessions has been marked by the moment housing sales began to swing up again.
- The housing sector was responsible for over 75 percent of all job growth from 2004 through 2007.
- In the past year alone, existing and new home sales have fallen by 13.1 percent and 37.6 percent, respectively.
- Nationally, sales of existing homes fell 10.3 percent in February from a year ago, and the U.S. median sales price slid almost 16 percent to $165,400.
- The housing sector makes up approximately 10 percent of the nation’s GDP.
