As Deadline Looms Site Gets Hot

WASHINGTON, DC - Interest in the federal home buyer tax credit surged in the first three months of 2010, with the FederalHousingTaxCredit.com Web site reaching a milestone 10 million visits. Spurred by a sense of urgency as the credit's April 30 expiration date approached, the site logged about a million visits each month in January, February and March. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) created the site in July 2008.

"The website www.FederalHousingTaxCredit.com provides authoritative, unbiased information about the home buyer tax credits and has proven to be a valuable resource for consumers, members of the housing industry and others," said NAHB Chairman Bob Jones, a builder and developer in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "NAHB went live with the site the same day the credit was signed into law in 2008, and it quickly became the Internet's premier source of information about the credit."

The $8,000 first-time home buyer credit and the $6,500 repeat buyer credit will expire on April 30. However, if buyers sign a sales contract by April 30, the IRS gives them an additional two months—until June 30, 2010—to close the sale of the home.

The site has recently been updated with a new section on the special rules that apply to the military, the foreign service and members of the intelligence community. For qualified service members who are ordered on a period of official extended duty, the dates are extended for one year, through April 30, 2011.

"Home buyers need to remember, that even though the tax credit is about to expire, conditions remain ideal to buy a home," said Jones. "There are plenty of existing homes on the market, interest rates are at near-record lows, and prices are very competitive."

The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 175,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. NAHB is affiliated with 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB's builder members will construct about 80 percent of the new housing units projected for 2010.