Note to readers: I’ve been criticized for some blunt statements about real estate markets in the past. You can disagree with me, but I ask that you not doubt my integrity. I have no real estate interests outside New Hampshire and am not representing anyone.
When I started researching the Washington, DC real estate market, I was impressed by the stability of institutional markets in general and astonished by the growing disparity between federal government and private industry employment. Put bluntly, the federal government has become the best employer in America. It is the most stable, with a headcount that grows annually and essentially guaranteed salary increases. It also offers the best benefits and salaries, except for the very top (the government’s CEO, President Barack Obama, makes $400,000 per year – a nice paycheck, but lower than that for almost any CEO in the Fortune 500).
As you might imagine, having the biggest employer in the country in your back yard is a good thing. When that employer can always be counted on for a raise, that helps. Partly as a result of that, the DC real estate market is looking pretty darned good.
Joshua Dorkin
First Time Home Owner Tax Credit Likely To Stay; But Current Homeowners Still Face Uncertain Future
by Charles Feldman | October 7, 2009As the, so far, jobless recovery continues, the White House is reportedly hunkered down trying to figure out what to do next. Obama administration officials are taking note of programs that have worked and those that have not done as well.
Among the programs that apparently fall into the “success” column is the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers.
The tax credit for first timers was part of the $787 billion dollar stimulus program and is being credited with helping the real estate industry stage a modest comeback—at least among first time home buyers.