Other factors that should spur buyers:

Low mortgage rates. If the Federal Reserve stops buying mortgage-backed securities at the end of March, 30-year rates will almost certainly rise to more than 6 percent.

Rising prices. About 30 percent of markets are already experiencing price increases. Prices are falling in 12 percent of markets, says Fiserv (but that only helps if you want to live there).

Source: Money Magazine, Beth Braverman (03/02/2010)

The first $7,500 tax credit was passed in 2008 and required first-time buyers to repay the credit over 15 years. A few months later in 2009, Congress expanded the credit to a maximum of $8,000 that didn’t have to be paid back.

At the end of last year, Congress extended the benefit again until April 30 with an extra two months on top of that to close. A new credit of $6,500 was added for move-up buyers, too.

Now representatives of the housing industry are lobbying for another extension. Some experts, including Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, who supported the earlier credits, think the time has come to let it go.

“It’s worn out its benefit,” he says. “If you extend it again, it isn’t going to do much, and what you’re doing is providing a tax break to folks who bought anyway.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nick Timiraos (02/22/2010)

Sell low and buy low. Because all property values are down, the loss on the property a home owner sells is really only a paper loss because the next property he buys also will be a bargain. If he buys smartly, when prices come back up in a few years, he’ll be in better shape.

Down-payment help is widely available. While nothing-down loans have disappeared, it is easy to find down-payment assistance for lower-income and first-time home buyers. Programs vary all over the country, but one good way to find them is to search online for “down-payment assistance programs” and the name of your region.

Your uncle has money to share. Besides the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit and the $6,500 move-up credit, there are an array of energy tax credits that can make home improvements pay off in cash.

Good help is available. Really talented real estate practitioners, contractors, and designers are available and eager for business.

Source: McClatchy Tribune, Kate Forgach (02/07/2010)

Sales of properties at the Cliffs, priced from the high $400,000s to $3 million, have been slow since the kickoff in August 2007 with only 39 property transfers as of Jan. 26. Five more homes are under contract. The developer had hoped to sell 1,200 homes by the end of 2010.

Founder and CEO of Cliffs Communities Jim Anthony says Woods is still the greatest golfer in the world and his problems are incidental to the community’s difficulties.

“Our timing could not have been worse,” he says. “It’s been a tough year and a half, but we can see the marketplace beginning to turn.”

One of the early buyers in the development, Francie Black, sees it another way. “It’s not likely [Tiger Woods] is going to be doing another course anywhere” in the U.S., she said. “It will probably make it a more scarce product, which, in turn, increases its value.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Dawn Wotapka (01/27/2010)

Analysts say that if builders could acquire finished lots, that might help. But banks that own these mostly foreclosed lots that are building-ready also are reluctant to sell them because prices are so depressed.

Tax rules that are allowing builders to claim a profit in 2009 aren’t going to be much of a help in coming years because they only allow companies to write off losses against profits for five years. Many builders haven’t had a good year since 2005.

The upshot, according to many analysts, is that despite signs that real estate is rebounding big builders aren’t able to climb out of a hole and continue to hold construction to depressed levels.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, John Jannarone (01/18/2010)

The two-story Greenwich Village property is 9.5 feet wide and 42 feet long and has two bedrooms and two baths.

The townhouse was listed last August for $2.7 million by Alex Nicholas, senior vice president of the Corcoran Group. It last sold in 2000 for $1.6 million. It is now for rent for $10,000 per month.

Source: The Associated Press (01/13/2010)

She predicts:

Real estate will be an attractive investment strategy in 2010 with wealthy investors devoting an increasing segment of their portfolios to it.

Loan modifications will result in more people who should probably be facing foreclosure slipping deeper into debt.

Cities like Omaha, Neb., and Buffalo, N.Y., which avoided the housing bubble and most of the bust, will be models for cities trying to avoid another bubble.

Financial troubles in Dubai will ripple through the U.S. luxury market, creating energy in a market that has been stagnant.

Source: Forbes, Francesca Levy (12/28/2009)

Government incentives will likely have a big impact in 2010, with many buyers determined to sign a contract before the April 30 tax credit deadline.

“This year, we’re anticipating sales will peak earlier,” says Nicole Hall, editor in chief of Lendingtree.com, an online mortgage comparison service. “The best time to get your house on the market will be February or early March, and maybe even earlier if you want to avoid competition.”

Traffic on real estate Web sites begins to rise right after the New Year, says Ken Shuman, spokesman for real estate Web site Trulia.com.

Source: Forbes.com, Francesca Levy (12/24/2009)

The IRS didn’t dispute the claim, but said it was studying the matter further. Some have suggested that this report and others will encourage Congress to put some safeguards in place before more claims result from the extension and expansion of the tax credit.

Source: The New York Times, Lynnley Browning (12/22/2009)

Payscale, a Seattle-based online provider of employee compensation data, identifies urban areas where college graduates saw the most income growth between 2005 and 2009. The cities are scattered throughout the country and prove that even during a recession, it’s not where you live that matters nearly as much as what you do.

“When the crash comes, and you lay off 75 percent, you tend to keep the higher-paid jobs. So your salary base goes up,” says Cynthia Kroll, economist at the Fisher Center of Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California Berkeley.

“It’s not that highly skilled people don’t also get laid off, but the mix is going to be weighted toward the more experienced, more skilled workers that you’re going to need when growth comes back,” she says.

Here are the 10 cities where Pay scale says incomes rose the most:

El Paso, Texas
Bakersfield, Calif.
Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.
Virginia Beach/Norfolk, Va.
Des Moines
Honolulu
Boise City, Idaho
Allentown-Bethlehem, Pa.
Charlotte, NC
Phoenix, AZ

Source: Forbes, Francesca Levy (12/15/2009)