National Association of Home Builders
If you’d like to discuss real estate matters, contact Rose Law Group Founder Jordan Rose, jrose@roselawgroup.com
The fiscal cliff, an economically damaging set of tax hikes and spending reductions scheduled to begin in 2013, has been avoided — for now — and that is good news for housing in the short run.
The enactment of H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, will extend permanently most of the 2001/2003 tax cuts. The legislation prevents a fiscal drag of approximately $600 billion in 2013, which would have been large enough to push the current weak economy into recession. That in turn would have reduced demand for both owner-occupied and rental housing and threatened the ongoing recovery for home building.
That outcome has been prevented, although future fiscal policy debates loom on the horizon. For example, a legislative fight over the debt ceiling and the delayed sequester will take place in February. And 2013 may be a year in which Congress finally considers comprehensive tax reform.
But for now, the following items in H.R. 8 are of interest to housing and home builders:
