Due mainly to the tax credit that expired at the end of April – we saw an incredible increase in showings and sales at Homegate Direct in April. We were also thinking, it would get a little too quiet once May hit – but we are as busy as ever with our listings, showings, and accepted offers. Here’s the Milwaukee Journal report from today:
Sales of existing homes jumped more than 36% in April, an increase fueled by home shoppers hoping to beat the deadline to qualify for special tax credits.
There were 1,555 homes sold in April by Realtors, according to Metro MLS Inc. That’s up from 1,140 in April 2009, and a 31% rise from March sales of this year.
Waukesha County led the way with a 54.2% increase, followed by Ozaukee, 40.7%, Milwaukee County, 31.5%, and Washington County 25.0%.
The Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors said the increase in sales in suburban counties is significant because those counties added to their inventory of “move-up” houses during the recession, and the market needed to sell more of those higher-priced homes.
“It would appear that the $6,500 homebuyer tax credit targeted at buyers who were also selling a home has worked,” the Realtors group said.
A federal tax credit of up to $6,500 was one of two types available to home buyers who had a signed sale contract before May 1. The other was a credit of up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers.
The first-time buyer credit, which was part of Congress’ economic stimulus package, originally was set to expire Dec. 1 of last year. But Congress extended the credit to April 30, and expanded the incentives to include the $6,500 credit for qualified people who owned a home but were planning to buy another.
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