Builders Push For Tax Credit
February 1, 2002
NAHB Backs President?s Goal Of Broader Homeownership
Inman News Features
The National Association of Home Builders announced that it strongly supports the goal of "broader homeownership, especially among minorities," expressed last night by President Bush in his State of the Union address.
"The President said last night that his economic security plan can be summed up in one word ? jobs," said Bruce Smith, NAHB president and home builder from Walnut Creek, Calif. "One solution our industry is pursuing is the enactment of a homeownership tax credit. This would create new jobs to help lead the economy out of recession while simultaneously increasing the supply of affordable homes for sale."
Available through a competitive allocation program administered by state agencies, the homeownership tax credit would provide investors with a credit of up to 50 percent of project costs for eligible home rehabilitation or construction. Modeled on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, it is intended to encourage new construction and substantial rehabilitation of homes for sale to low- and moderate-income families in economically distressed areas.
Housing accounts for about 14 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, according to a new report issued by NAHB.
Copyright: Inman News Service
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