Apparently low interest rates and reduced home prices aren’t enough incentive to get consumers to purchase new homes.

A recent survey by Weichert Realtors shows that increasing the tax credit for homebuyers to $15,000 and extending it to all buyers — not just first-time purchasers — will get more people to jump off the fence and buy a home.

Groups representing Realtors and homebuilders have been pushing lawmakers to boost and expand the tax credit to stimulate the housing market.

“The tax credit would increase home sales, which would cause inventories to fall and stabilize home prices and mortgage markets,” National Association of Home Builders First Vice President told a Congressional committee.

But will throwing extra cash at more consumers really be the key to help revive home sales?

I’m guessing that factors like job losses and business growth are more critical to the health of the overall housing market.

If a buyer doesn’t know how secure his job is, his appetite for committing to a hefty new loan isn’t going to be great.

Meanwhile, the current tax credit and favorable interest rates have done little to spur more home sales in Connecticut

The Warren Group will issue a report next week showing that home sales in May have dropped to their lowest level for the month in over 20 years.

The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA) wants to make sure buyers and sellers know exactly who the real estate agent is truly representing in a real estate transaction.

 The group sent a letter to Congress last week urging the leaders to include real estate agency disclosure requirements in mortgage lending reform bills.

 “Too many consumers have no idea that when they contact an agent listing a home, that agent must do everything possible to achieve the best outcome for the seller,” NAEBA President John Sullivan said in a statement. “As a result, these consumers have no one involved from the beginning of the transaction who can advise them on negotiating techniques, price points or the acquisition of an appropriate loan.”

Some states, including Connecticut, have disclosure laws that are designed to protect consumers. In Connecticut, for example, agents aren’t supposed to show buyers any homes unless an agency disclosure form is signed that explains who the agent is representing.

 NAEBA leaders say these agency disclosure laws aren’t working as they should be. Studies have shown that the majority of homebuyers aren’t given disclosure forms during their first meetings with agents, the group points out.

 The NAEBA wants stiff penalties for real estate agents who violate agency rules.

 I wonder how often Connecticut’s policy on agency isn’t being followed and how those violations are being handled.

 At the same time, I don’t think local Realtors are going to be too thrilled about the federal government stepping in and dictating when the disclosure is made or having the feds come up with uniform definitions of agency relationships.

 Am I wrong?

Saying it’s been a tough year so far for real estate agents who handle ultra-luxury home sales in Connecticut would be a huge understatement.

Sales of residential properties priced $3 million and higher sank more than 70 percent in the first four months of 2009 compared to a year earlier.

Only 18 homes in that price range traded from January through April, according to data from The Warren Group. Last year during the same months, 63 sales were recorded.

There have been some notable high-end home sales this year, including a 16-room Colonial in Greenwich that fetched $6 million in March and another 4-bedroom home in the same community that went for $5.2 million in April.

But that pales in comparison to the same period in 2008, when nine properties with price tags of $6 million or higher sold.

Bank-owned property sales have grown significantly in Connecticut.

Of the 5,079 single-family homes sold in the first four months of 2009, 265 – or 5.2 percent – were homes owned by lending institutions, according to a new analysis from The Warren Group.

Last year at the same time, less than 1 percent of the single-family home sales were of bank-owned properties.

Why should anyone care? Distressed property sales drag down overall home values.

In Connecticut, the median price for all single-family homes sold from January through April was $224,000.

The median price for the 265 bank-owned single-family homes that sold during that time was only $80,000 – ouch!

Here’s some positive real estate news: The National Association of Realtors reported today that pending home sales posted the biggest monthly jump in almost eight years.

The group’s index of purchase and sale contracts signed in April rose 6.7 percent to 90.3 from 84.6 in March. The reading was also 3.2 percent higher than the same month last year.

The Northeast’s pending sales increased the most – nearly 33 percent.

Realtors say the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit helped fuel the increase. But even the NAR Chief Economist cautions that the pending sales data is more unpredictable because it includes short sales that are being negotiated. Short sales, transactions in which banks need to agree to less than the mortgage that is owed, can be difficult and often fall apart.

Still, the pending home sales index has been up for three consecutive months, which is a hopeful sign.

Home sales have been pretty weak in Connecticut so far this year. Watch out to see if The Warren Group reports anything different tomorrow when it releases its latest home sales and price report for Connecticut.