Housing tax credit little benefit for many - The Swamp - Tribune's Washington Bureau
The Senate's proposed $15,000 tax credit for homebuyers would boost the ailing housing market but do little to help low-income people who need it most, experts say.
The measure, which is part of the $827-billion economic stimulus plan that the Senate will vote on Tuesday, would offer the credit to anyone who buys a primary residence. But to take full advantage of the credit, buyers would have to earn enough to use it and spend at least $150,000 on a home.
As many as 1 million home sales could result from the tax credit, according to Mary Trupo of the National Assn. of Realtors.
"By increasing demand and decreasing inventory, it'll help to stabilize home values and result in fewer foreclosures," she said.
But low-income people will not benefit, said Linda Couch, deputy director of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. "The bill is focusing a lot more of its resources on higher income households and home ownership than it is on the lowest income people and people really teetering on the edge of homelessness."