Senate Negotiating Extension of Home Buyer Credit

Washington, DC, Oct. 27, 2009--Senate leaders are negotiating to extend an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers through 2010.

“We should be able to extend that later this week,” said Florida Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana, both Democrats, may seek to add the homebuyers extension to legislation extending unemployment benefits that may be debated as early as this week, according to Regan Lachapelle, an aide to Reid.

Lawmakers are under pressure from real estate agents, mortgage brokers and homebuilders to extend the $8,000 credit before it expires Nov. 30.

Baucus and Reid made a proposal last week to Senate Republicans that would extend the homebuyer credit through 2010, Lachapelle said. First-time homebuyers who close before April 1 would get the full $8,000, and the credit’s value would be reduced by $2,000 in each successive quarter until expiring at the end of the year.