John SkinnerEarly this month, Congress extended the deadline by three months of a popular home-buyer tax credit that has helped fuel the real estate market in recent months.
The extension is only for those buyers who signed a purchase contract by April 30 and need extra time to close their deals. The deadline to close will now be Sept. 30. The incentive offers up to $8,000 for certain buyers.
The National Association of Realtors estimates that a total of 4.4 million people have received the credit since it was made nonrefundable last year. That includes 2.9 million first-time buyers and 1.5 million repeat buyers, the group said.
