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Purchasers now have until September 30 to complete transactions on contracts signed by April 30.

Late Wednesday June 30th the senate approved the measure just hours ahead of the original June 30th deadline, and only one day after House of Representatives approval of the measure.

On Friday July 2nd President Barack Obama signed off on HR 5623, otherwise known as “The Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010”. This extends of the expiration date for the federal home buyer tax credit from June 30th 2010 an extra 3 months to September 30th 2010.The legislation will create a seamless extension even though the bill was signed into law a few days after the original expiration date.

This bill doesn’t help anyone currently shopping for a home. Buyers must have signed a contract by April 30 to qualify for the tax break, now first-time homebuyers will have until Sept. 30 to close on their purchases and receive an ,000 tax credit.

Qualified existing homeowners (purchasing a replacement primary residence) also have until Sept. 30 to close on new homes and receive a tax credit of up to ,500.

As many as 180,000 people with pending contracts breathe a sigh of relief as the tax credit extension rushes through in the final hours. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) lobbied for the extension – citing a large influx of buyers trying to take advantage of the tax credit had overwhelmed mortgage lenders trying to process loans in time, and also to compensate for complicated short sale transactions which can sometimes take months to complete.

,000 First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit Summary

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