In March Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law California Assembly Bill 183 which allocated $100 million in credits for first-time buyers of existing homes and $100 million in credits for buyers of new homes purchased between May 1, 2010 and August 1, 2011.
So far 15,220 applications totalling $78,108,000 in estimated requested effective credits have been recieved from first-time buyers versus 3,700 applications totalling $36,360,000 in estimated requested effective credits from buyers of new homes.
From the California Franchise Tax Board:
[W]e will soon receive First-Time Buyer applications totaling more than $100 million. However, since many of these are duplicate, revised or invalid applications, we will accept at least 28,000 applications. This will insure that we have enough valid applications to allocate the full $100 million. These additional applications will be subject to the availability of remaining credits. We will only issue approved certificates of allocation until the $100 million is exhausted.
The California tax credits are limited to “the lesser of 5 percent of the purchase price or $10,000” and taxpayers must apply the total credit “in equal amounts over 3 successive tax years beginning with the tax year in which the home is purchased.”
∙ He’s It’s Back: California’s $10,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit Returns [SocketSite]
∙ California 2010 Tax Credit for New Home / First-Time Buyer [ca.gov]