Home sales fall after tax credits expire
08 Sep 2010
King County home sales fell in August for the second straight month, providing more evidence — if anyone still needs it — that the market has cooled since popular tax credits ended.
The median price, however, rose slightly.
Buyers closed on 1,313 houses last month, 18 percent fewer than August 2009, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) reported Friday.
It was the second straight monthly year-over-year decline after 13 months of gains. The drop coincided with expiration of federal tax credits, aimed mostly at first-time buyers, that were enacted in 2009 to boost a sagging housing market.
With some exceptions, the last of the sales that qualified for the credits of up to $8,000 closed in May and June. Now the market is sagging again.