New Real Estate Stimulus Package Signed Into Law

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law Tuesday afternoon. The $787 billion plan is designed to stimulate consumer spending and create jobs, in order to help families recover and prosper.
Realizing that an economic recovery is contingent upon improvements in the housing market, the package includes provisions that will help attract first-time buyers, reduce inventory, stabilize home values and improve liquidity in the overall mortgage market.
The bill specifically helps real estate in the following ways:

• Increases the first-time homebuyer tax credit to $8,000 and eliminates the repayment requirement.

• Reinstates the 2008 higher loan limits for FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Both provisions were championed by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which estimates that the new version of the homebuyer tax credit could stimulate up to 300,000 additional home sales.