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Tom Jackson of Gateway Realty in Bluffton attributes six sales to the credit, which applies to anyone who has not owned a home in the past three years. The credit is worth 10 percent of the purchase price, up to $8,000.
"We've had some sales in here because of it," said Jackson, president of the Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors. "I'm sure all offices have had a few."
As of Aug. 22, almost 22,000 people in South Carolina and more than 1.4 million nationwide had filed for the credit, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
Jackson said interest in the credit increased as buyers learned more about it.
A sale must close by Nov. 30 to be eligible.
To ensure their deals close in time, home buyers probably need to have a home under contract by the end of October, Jackson said.
"It took a while for people to even understand what it was," he said. "It's almost a shame it's almost over."
It might not be. The National Association of Realtors is leading a push to extend and expand the benefit. There's still a chance that Congress could extend the tax credit, but some lawmakers worry about the program's cost, which may hit an estimated $15 billion, more than double the amount projected in February's economic stimulus bill, according to the Associated Press.
Matt Trumps of Cora Bett Thomas & Associatesin Beaufort doesn't think this particular incentive has worked, but he would be in favor of others.
"I have not had a client mention the tax credit," he said.
Many sales in the area have involved distressed properties that probably would have sold with or without a credit, he said.
"I'm not saying I don't like the idea," said Trumps, president of the Beaufort County Association of Realtors. "I'm saying it hasn't been effective."
He said the credit would help more if it applied to all home buyers.
"Anyone willing to take the risk in this market deserves the tax credit," Trumps said.
Wallace Thomas of Century 21 Carolina Realty in Beaufort said the tax credit has been used in 10 to 15 of the approximately 60 sales at his office this year.
He had hoped the tax credit would produce more than that, but he said income limits have disqualified some buyers.
The income limit is $75,000 per year for single taxpayers; $150,000 for married couples who file joint tax returns.
"You add a second person with a good-paying job, that throws them out," Thomas said.
Even people who qualify for the credit sometimes can't get financing because of tightened credit standards, said Thomas, a Beaufort native with 34 years in the real estate business.
"Regardless of what the government does, they've got to be able to get the loan," he said.
Over time, the credit might lead to area sales, said Ric Spiehs, a local loan officer with SunTrust.
"When something stimulates demand anywhere in the United States, that will eventually ripple its way to our local area," Spiehs said. "Invariably, some of those people will be able to relocate to Hilton Head."
