First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

A $7,500 tax credit is available to first-time home buyers who purchase a home between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009. For the purposes of this tax credit, anyone who has not owned a primary residence within the last three years is considered a first-time home buyer.

Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit. The tax credit works like an interest-free loan and must be repaid over a 15-year period.

For more details, check here.

September Residential Sales Statistics

The Tucson Association of Realtors has released the Residential Sale Statistics for September. The best news is that number of sales increased 20% from September 2007 to September 2008. However, average and median prices declined 20% and 16% respectively during that period. The number of active listings was down 14% in the past year, which is a good thing.

Dividing the 7,858 active listings in September by the 934 sales indicates we have an 8.4 month inventory of listings. We are getting closer to a six month inventory, which is considered a balanced market, i.e., neither a buyer nor a seller market.

The average sale price in Tucson is now $218,397 and the median sale price is $180,500. In September, 78% of the sales were under $250,000.