To some, tax credits won't go far enough

The first-time and existing home buyer tax credits could help boost sales in metro Detroit this winter, but it's the spring that Kathy Toth worries about.

That's because the credit goes away April 30. And markets like Michigan could use a little more help, said Toth, an associate broker for Keller Williams Realty in Ann Arbor.

She said she thinks Michigan, with its nation-leading unemployment rate of 14.7% in November, needs a larger tax credit that includes all buyers regardless of income or when they last bought a home.

The first-time homebuyer tax credit, which offered an incentive of 10% of the purchase price up to $8,000, drove home sales last year.

Sales to first-time homebuyers accounted for 51% of U.S. sales in November, the National Association of Realtors reported. Overall sales were up 22% in metro Detroit for November, in part because of the tax credit.

"What we are finding is ... people are taking advantage of it," Toth said. "I am a little concerned about what happens after it goes away."