The extension of the tax credit until September 30 for homes under contract died with the Jobs Bill that failed to pass yesterday, which included other features. So Wednesday of next week is the true deadline to close. These contracts have already been signed so this shouldn't impact sales as long as buyers truly have the cash to close. The continued upside for buyers are continually low interest rates. A record low according to Bankrate.com's 25 year survey. We were generally wrong in thinking interest ra... read more

A lot of folks went under contract on homes before April 30th hoping to close by June 30 in order to get the tax credit. Many of these homes will not close by June 30 due largely to a backlog by lenders. The senate has extended the closing deadline to September 30. The house has passed their version of the bill in December and the differences in the two bills will have to be fixed before it becomes law. Source: http://www.inman.com/news/2010/06/16/senate-oks-new-tax-credit-closing-deadline ... read more

Everyone has been curious about the impact of the tax credit on sales. We are seeing a dip but no cliff diving. We have expected that some demand would be pulled forward from the latter months of 2010. Since about half of our market has been investor sales that are not qualified for the credit, the effect may be muted more in Las Vegas than in other areas. The ultimate effect on sales post tax credit may end up being a popular question but with an academic answer. It is going to be hard to disentangl... read more

It is very common in the United States and elsewhere to use markets to hedge risk. Farmers, who are long whatever they grow, often sell futures on those same products. That way if prices slide by the time they harvest and bring to market, they have already sold at the higher price if a price decline indeed occured. I have been surprised that in the United States that futures products like the S&P/Case-Shiller are still thinly traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Property derivatives are much more popu... read more