According to RisMedia, http://rismedia.com/2009-09-09/tax-credit-helps-spur-pending-home-sales/: ^[1]RISMEDIA, September 10, 2009—(MCT)—A gauge of future U.S. home sales rose more than expected in July 2009 to the highest level in more than two years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that expires this fall. The National Association of Realtors recently said its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in July for previously occupied homes rose 3.2% to 97.6. It was the sixth straight increase, and 12% higher than the same month last year. The index of pending home sales could indicate how sales completed this month and next will turn out.

A 12% jump in sales contracts in the West and a 3% increase in the South drove July’s overall increase. Low home prices combined with the Nov. 30 expiration date of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers contribute to a spur in sales.

The NAR projects that about 2 million first-time buyers will take advantage of the credit this year and says it is spurring 350,000 additional sales that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

Many real-estate professional are urging the federal government to extend the first-time home buyer tax incentive. Coy said there are even efforts to increase the credit to $15,000 and make it available to all home buyers.

Short sales, foreclosures, bank owned properties, lower interest rates, the Home Run 2 Grant in Utah and the $8,000 tax credit are strong motivators for buying now, says Betty Jo McKinlay, Century 21 At  The Rockies in American Fork, UT.   Now is a great time to buy a home! (more…)