The latest on the first-time homebuyer tax credit
April 19, 2021
Subscribe
Spotify
In today’s HousingWire Daily episode, HousingWire Digital Media Manager Alcynna Lloyd joins HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler to discuss the biggest topics coming across HousingWire’s news desk.
In this episode, Lloyd and Wheeler talk about the newest iteration of President Joe Biden’s proposed first-time homebuyer tax credit, and what climbing mortgage rates could mean for the housing market going forward.
The pair also review last week’s biggest stories, and the topics the HousingWire editorial team will cover in the week ahead.
For some background on the interview, here’s a snippet of one of the articles discussed in today’s conversation.
Consumers have been closely following President Joe Biden’s proposed first-time homebuyer tax credit, but the latest legislative effort to assist homebuyers differs in several significant ways. The newest draft of a down-payment assistance bill would provide $25,000 to first-time homebuyers, but only those who are also first-generation homebuyers and economically disadvantaged. Plus, Biden’s proposal is not actually a homebuyer tax credit, but it is grant money that would be available at closing.
On Wednesday, lawmakers published a draft version of the legislation, the “Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2021,” ahead of a hearing held by the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, which Rep. Maxine Waters chairs. During the hearing, lawmakers discussed a number of housing measures on the table in President Biden’s infrastructure package, including funding to shore up public housing.
The proposed down payment assistance would be means-tested based on income, and limited to those who have not owned a house for at least three years. To qualify, neither of the borrower’s parents may have owned a home. That qualification doesn’t apply if the borrowers’ parents lost their home in a foreclosure or short sale, or if the borrower has ever been in foster care, however.
Borrowers who make no more than 120% of the area median income where they live — or if they live in a high-cost area, 180% — would qualify for a baseline of $20,000. Those recognized as socially disadvantaged, because they are in a group that has been “subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice,” could receive an additional $5,000.
The grant funding — which is not a tax credit — could be used at closing toward a downpayment on a residential property with one to four units, including a condominium, cooperative project or manufactured housing unit.
HousingWire Daily examines the most compelling articles reported from the HousingWire newsroom. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories coming across our newsroom that are helping Move Markets Forward. Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd and Victoria Wickham.
HousingWire articles related to this episode:
