Journal of Property Management - January/February 2010

INDUSTRY NEWS & NOTES

hOMeBuyer tax credits
are extended & exPanded

In November 2009, President Obama signed a new bill to extend and expand the first-time homebuyer tax credit. First-time homebuyers have been getting tax credits of up to $8,000 since January 2009 as part of the economic stimulus package enacted in early 2009. Originally scheduled to end on November

30, 2009, the extension will give homebuyers an additional five months to apply for the credit.

The tax credit has also been expanded to include many buyers who already own homes. Buyers who have owned their current homes at least five years would be eligible for tax credits of up to $6,500. To qualify for the credit, buyers in both groups have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30.

The real estate industry pushed to extend and expand the housing tax credit. About 1. 4 million first-time homebuyers qualified for the credit through August 2009. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) estimated that 350,000 of them would not have purchased their homes without the credit.

EPA Tests Environmentally Friendly Parking Lots

In an effort to help reduce pollution runoff from paved parking lots, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is testing a variety of permeable paving materials at its facility in Edison, N.J. If successful, the EPA intends to show businesses how they can install parking lots that not only reduce runoff, but actually help contribute to healthy water filtering processes.

The 43,000 square-foot Edison parking lot features three different kinds of permeable pavement, with several kinds of rain gardens planted adjacently. The EPA study will determine which combination of permeable pavement and rain garden vegetation is most successful at removing pollutants from stormwater runoff as it filters back into the ground.