Why not extend the credit to all home buyers?
The first-time home buyer tax credit has had its share of problems, including ongoing battles with fraudsters, which I will get to again a little later.
Still, for all the warts and gimmickry, it has definitely helped revive what was a stone cold dead market.
But restricting it to first-timers has been a problem, especially in a high-cost housing market like Greater Boston.
The credit has certainly stimulated demand, but there just aren’t that many starter homes around here. Frankly, there’s just not that much for sale, relatively speaking, with the inventory of homes on the market across the state having plunged from more than 43,000 three years ago to 28,000 today.
That’s led to bidding wars for a limited number of properties. On top of that, there’s no incentive
for homeowners looking to trade upl, which might free up more homes for sale.
Interestingly, it would add a $6,500 credit for current homeowners who want to trade up.
Let’s hope, however, that any new tax credit extension will also include some basic measures to weed out the fraudsters.
Incredibly, the IRA required no proof of purchase when it doled out all those billions in tax credits. That resulted in hundreds of millions in questionable claims, including homeowners who used the name of their tots to snare an easy $8,000.
Of course, the fraud stories keep getting better. Now it appears more than 50 IRS workers are among those who cheated as well.
So I say extend it, but don’t be stupid about it.
That’s probably a tall order for Congress, though.
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