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“As part of the economic recovery package, we created an $8,000 first time home buyers’ tax credit, replacing an unsuccessful and overly complex loan program with one that is already having an impact,” Dodd explained. “The homebuyer tax credit has already been used by nearly 2 million first time homebuyers. In addition to helping middle class families achieve the dream of homeownership, the tax credit has helped to stabilize housing prices and the market at large.” “The credit is set to expire in five weeks. But the work of stabilizing the housing market won’t be done. We still need to use every tool at our disposal to try and fix this problem,” Dodd argued. “So our first witness, Senator Johnny Isakson, and I have proposed extending the tax credit through the end of next June, as well as expanding it so that more middle class families can take advantage of what I believe has been an effective program.” In his testimony before the committee Isakson warned “I believe it is important as we look at the current termination on November 30th to consider what is going to happen if we don’t extend that credit. What’s going to happen is you’re going to go into the three worst months of the year in housing sales - December, January and February - with the only incentive out there for a normal sale to take place gone.” “Nobody argues that the tax credit hasn’t worked,” Isakson concluded. The committee also heard from Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, who testified before the committee on the Administration’s efforts to stabilize the housing market. He was followed by a panel of stakeholders which included Diane Randall, Executive Director of the Partnership for Strong Communities, Ronald Phipps of the National Association of Realtors, Emile J. Brinkmann, Chief Economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association and David Crowe, Chief Economist of the National Association of Home Builders. Testimony and webcast will be available after the hearing at: http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=dc269554-093d-470a-a39e-d545f3f561ae A complete list of hearings held this year can be found at: http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.List&Month=0&Year=2009 © Copyright by ConnecticutPlus.com. Some articles and pictures posted on our website, as indicated by their bylines, were submitted as press releases and do not necessarily reflect the position and opinion of ConnecticutPlus.com, Canaiden LLC or any of its associated entities. Articles may have been edited for brevity and grammar. CURRENT HEADLINES: Top of Page
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