High-end owners eye possible capital gain increase

Wealthy homeowners, especially those with more than one home, are reportedly contacting their real estate agents with a request: Please sell their home within the next five months, CNBC reports.

Why are they suddenly in such a rush to sell?

Wealthy homeowners-those with million-plus home values-are seeing January 1 as a deadline to sell their home in case Congress allows the Bush tax cuts to expire and for capital-gains taxes to rise (the current 15 percent rate could rise to 20 percent). If these go into effect, wealthy home owners could owe millions of dollars more in taxes on their home sales, CNBC reports.

Regardless of the rate rise, the capital gains exclusion remains in effect. This means that, under the current federal Tax Code, any sales gain of $250,000 or less for single filers and $500,000 or less for married couples filing jointly will still be exempt from capital gains tax on a primary residence. Second homes do not receive the exemption.

“Real-estate experts say that, as more of the wealthy sell out of fear of a tax increase, they could drive up inventory and lower prices in the top of the real estate market, which has been one of the few bright spots in the economy,” CNBC reporter Robert Frank wrote. “Any softening at the high end, or a spike in inventory, could ripple through the housing market and add new pressure to prices, although it could also increase sales volume.”

Some sellers are in such a rush to sell that they are even accepting lower asking prices in order to avoid the possible increases in taxes next year, according to CNBC.