Thurston County Food Bank

Join Coldwell Banker this holiday season in helping the Thurston County Food Bank serve our community! Many families in our area are struggling to provide basic needs for their households. In 2008, the TCFB served a record 37,000 clients, a 39% increase from 2007. Remember that every can counts and will give hope to all who will receive these generous donations from people like you.

The Thurston County Food Bank accepts donations of money or food items Monday – Friday, from 8:00am – 3:30pm.

220 Thurston St N.E.

Olympia, WA. 98501-1138

Office phone number: (360) 352-8597

http://www.thurstoncountyfoodbank.org/default.htm

Coldwell Banker Thanks Our Veterans

Veteran’s Day is an annual American holiday honoring our military veterans. It was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor Armistice Day, the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislature that was passed in 1938, November 11 was “dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’. This new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.

In 1954, after World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting the word “Veterans”.

United States Senate Resolution 143, which was passed on August 4, 2001, designated the week of November 11 through November 17, 2001, as “National Veterans Awareness Week”. The resolution calls for education efforts directed at elementary and secondary school students concerning the contribution and sacrifices of veterans.

We thank you for your service to our country and remember the sacrifices of our American veterans.

Below is a link to a few Veterans Day Discounts
http://www.military.com/veterans-day/veterans-day-discounts.html

Veterans Appreciation Dinner 2009
Sunday, Nov 15 5:00 pm
St. Martin’s Marcus Pavilion, Lacey, WA
Reserve your place at this year's Veterans Appreciation Dinner. This special evening is designed to honor the men and women of all military conflicts. This is an opportunity to pay tribute to our veterans, to thank them for the bravery and for their sacrifices they made to defend our freedom and the American way of life. read more
Price: $25 per person
Phone: 360-438-0114 or 360-491-4959
5300 Pacific Ave S.E., Lacey, WA, 98503

2009 Veterans Day Events & Observations for Washington State
November 7-11, 2009

http://www.dva.wa.gov/PDF%20files/Veterans%20Day%20Events%20and%20Observance%20for%20Washington%20State.pdf

Homebuyer Tax Credit Extended and Expanded

The President signed into law this morning the latest homebuyer tax credit. Some highlights of the new law are outlined below.

The provisions of this new law apply to any purchases made as of today’s date. This means that any first-time buyer who couldn’t close before December 1, 2009 (the original expiration date) now need not worry about losing out on the credit. It also means that the newly qualifying repeat buyers will receive the credit on any qualified closing starting today.

Some key provisions of the new tax credit include:

• An extension of the credit to cover any purchase of a principal residence by qualifying buyers who are under contract by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010.
• An expansion of coverage in two ways:

1. Broadens those eligible to more than first-time buyers.

“LONG-TIME RESIDENTS OF SAME PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE” now qualify. These are buyers who have “owned and used the same residence as such individual's principal residence for any 5-consecutive-year period during the 8-year period ending on the date of the purchase of a subsequent principal residence.” Quoting from H.R. 3548 as passed by the House and Senate.

• The credit amount for these buyers is 10% of the purchase price to a maximum of $6,500. Any qualifying buyer purchasing a home costing more than $65,000 will receive the full amount (See the purchase price limitation below).

• The credit still applies to first-time buyers (which includes anyone who has not owned a home for the past three years). The credit amount for these buyers remains at 10% of the purchase price to a maximum of $8,000. Any qualifying buyer purchasing a home costing more than $80,000 will receive the full amount (See the purchase price limitation below).

2. Raises the income limits.

• The full credit amounts are available to single persons who earn $125,000
  ($225,000 for married couples) or less. The previous limits were $75,000
  (singles) and $150,000 (married couples).
• A reduced credit is available for incomes above those amounts, with no credit available above $145,000 for singles, and $245,000 for married couples.

• A new limitation in the form of a cap on the purchase price. No credit will be available to an otherwise qualifying buyer who purchases a home costing more than $800,000.
• A new anti-fraud provision, which requires that the buyer claiming the credit to attach to the tax return a properly executed copy of the settlement statement used to complete the purchase.

If you are planning to take advantage of the tax credit, be sure to check with your accountant or tax attorney for all of the details. The IRS website will also have some additional information on the new provisions. Visit http://www.irs.gov/ to learn more.

Pending Home Sales Up Again

Thurston County’s October pending home sales easily beat last year’s results. Pending sales during the month rose 14.2% to 289 sales compared to 253 in October of 2008.

October is the sixth straight month of year over year gains. This string in sales is mostly a result of lower prices. The median price of homes sold this year is now $240,000, which is down 6.6% from last year.

The median sales price in October was much lower, at just $229,450. This reflects the push by first-time buyers, who are mainly in the lower price points, to beat the clock on the $8,000 tax credit that was set to expire on December 1, 2009.

Congress has now voted to extend the tax credit and the President will sign it into law tomorrow. (See our related posts for more on the new tax credit.)

Despite the gains in pending sales, which are contracts accepted but not yet completed, closed sales dropped 5.7% in October 2009 versus October 2008. As we’ve reported in the past months, the gap between better pending sales and closed sales continues to be the short sale properties. Many of those sales are not being approved by the banks. (See our October 5, 2009 post Pending Home Sales Jump Again, Closed Sales Holding.)

The greatest level of activity is at the low end of the market. In October 60% of sales were under $250,000. By comparison, only 6% of all sales were above $400,000.

The tax credit has been credited with jump starting the low end of the market. That theory might be a bit misplaced. The National Association of Realtors estimates that approximately 350,000 people were encouraged to buy due to the tax credit. That is only about 6% of all homebuyers this year. Nearly 1.8 million people will receive the tax credit in 2009. Most people are buying for other reasons.

The tax credit is certainly giving incentive to shop. Shoppers are becoming buyers only when the price is right. Most of the price reduction activity has been at the low end of the market where bank owned and short sale properties account for nearly 50% of the sales.

The tax credit that is being signed tomorrow expands coverage beyond first-time buyers. Certain repeat buyers will receive a $6,500 tax credit. The sellers in the higher price ranges may find more shoppers as a result of this expansion of the credit. If their prices are right, those shoppers will definitely become buyers.

Tax Credit Will Be Signed Into Law Tomorrow

The House overwhelmingly passed the tax credit bill. It will be signed into law tomorrow morning.

Senate Votes to Extend and Expand Tax Credit

The Senate unanimously voted today to extend the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. The measure, which passed by a 98-0 vote, also expands the coverage to certain repeat buyers -- those that have owned a home for five consecutive years out of the past eight years.

The House of Representatives will act on the measure tomorrow. We will provide the details when the credit is signed into law, which could happen as early as Friday. In the meantime, check our posts from earlier this week and last for more information on the credit.

Tax Credit Headed for Extension (and Expansion)

The Senate acted on an important procedural step that clears the way for the extension of the home buyer tax credit. If all goes as planned, the extension should move its way to enactment in the next week or two.

The program was set to expire December 1, 2009. The extension will keep the credit in place through next spring. When enacted, the tax credit will be available for primary residence purchases that are under contract by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010.

The original tax credit was aimed at just first-time home buyers, and offered them a credit of 10% of the purchase price to a maximum of $8,000. The version of the credit making its way through Congress now keeps that credit in place, but it will now cover some repeat buyers as well.

The new tax credit will be available to buyers who have owned a primary residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight. The credit amount will be $6,500.

Qualifying income limits for both the first-time buyer credit and the repeat buyer will be raised to $150,000 for single tax filers and $225,000 for joint filers. That will cover a lot of buyers in our region.

We will keep you posted on the progress as the extension and expansion of the program makes it through Congress.