Senate Agrees to Extend Home Buyer Tax Credit Closing Deadline

Home sales continued to surge this month with the approaching home buyer tax credit closing deadline (Buyers wanting to take advantage of the first-time home buyer tax credit had to close by June 30th). But the big question on the minds of many when I posted on the topic earlier this month was: Will home buyers realistically have enough time to close? See, with so many buyers purchasing foreclosure and short-sale properties, it simply was taking longer to close and it was going to be impossible for many to meet the deadline. The hope earlier this month was that the deadline would be extended for some buyers--and it has been!

According to an inman.com article yesterday, "The Senate has amended a bill to give home buyers who were under contract on a home purchase by April 30 an additional three months to close the deal and claim the federal home buyer tax credit."

This ammendment does not extend the home buyer tax credit program, but it does extend the deadline for home buyers who were already under contract. Extending the deadline for closing from June 30 to Sept. 30 would allow lenders more time to clear a backlog of 180,000 homebuyers nationwide, said amendment sponsor Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.