A tax credit of up to $8,000 is available for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.
Read the FAQ About the Home Buyer Tax Credit

The deep contraction in the economy and in the housing market has created devastating consequences for homeowners and communities throughout the country. Millions of responsible families who make their monthly payments and fulfill their obligations have seen their property values fall, and are now unable to refinance to lower mortgage rates. Meanwhile, millions of workers have lost their jobs or had their hours cut, and are now struggling to stay current on their mortgage payments. As a result, as many as 6 million families are expected to face foreclosure in the next several years, with millions more struggling to stay current on their payments. Read more

Our nation today confronts the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. The process of repair will take time, but the policies will work. In the end, we must get our economy back on track to get millions of Americans back to work and help support and stimulate private investment.

The Financial Stability Plan, along with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are critical first steps. As we go forward, the nation must work to strike the right balance between promoting public trust, using taxpayer money prudently to repair the financial system and reassuring market participants so they have the confidence to get credit flowing again to families and business.

As part of the Financial Stability Plan, Treasury has put in place a series of financial initiatives to help lay the financial foundation for economic recovery: 1) a broad program to stabilize the housing market by encouraging lower mortgage rates and making it easier for millions to refinance and avoid foreclosure; 2) a new capital program to provide banks with a safeguard against a deeper recession; 3) a major new lending program with the Federal Reserve targeted at the securitization markets critical for consumer and small business lending; 4) a program to set up funds to provide a market for the legacy loans and securities that currently burden the financial system. Read more