Homebuyers' Tax Credit Drastically Reduced

It appears that the $15,000 tax credit available to all primary residence home buyers, as part of the 'compromise' Federal bail-out package, has been scaled back to $8,000, and available only to first-time home buyers. The 'rules' for the $8,000 tax credit mirror those of the prior $7,500 credit with one significant change. The change is that this tax credit doesn't have to be repaid.

While the scaled back tax credit is better than the prior provisions, it probably won't do much for the real estate market on Outer Cape Cod. This is true since our typical buyer isn't a first time home buyer.