HomeFinder.com Cash to Close Sweepstakes Receives Thousands of Entries to Date and Shows Strong Buyer Interest Despite Slow Housing Market Outlook

CHICAGO, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- HomeFinder.com, the site where homes and people find each other and connect with real estate professionals, launched the Cash to Close Sweepstakes on June 1 to give three lucky home buyers the chance to win one of three cash prizes of $10,000, $8,000 or $7,000 to use toward closing on their next home. Thousands of hopeful buyers have entered so far, with just over a week left to submit online entries at www.homefinder.com/sweepstakes now until July 15.

Created to continue the momentum generated by the expired federal buyer tax credits, the Cash to Close Sweepstakes also aimed to better understand data on an entrant's home buying timeframe and motivation during a market of affordable home prices, record low mortgage rates and excess inventory.

Despite recent reports predicting a continued decline in home sales, HomeFinder.com sweepstakes entry data indicated strong buyer interest for the remainder of the year.  Over 60 percent of all entrants polled to date are planning to buy a home within six months, 15 percent are planning to buy within three months and five percent are on an expedited timeframe to purchase within the next 30 days.  While there is significant interest in the sweepstakes among the entrants wanting to get into their first or next home, the entry data also confirms the recent trend of buyers taking longer and longer to make that decision, investigating local markets, finding the right REALTOR to work with and getting qualified for financing. The vast majority of entrants, while they are active home buyers, are still six months away from making their home purchase decision.  And it doesn't end there.

The escrow period between signing a contract and closing on the home purchase has also become increasingly prolonged. The National Association of REALTORs estimated that nearly 200,000 home buyers were in jeopardy of missing the window on the federal tax credits, because they were having difficulty meeting the original June 30 closing deadline. The government recently passed a bill to extend the closing deadline to September 30, allowing buyers who entered into a purchase agreement prior to April 30 to still qualify for the credits. According to the Treasury Department, nearly three million taxpayers have already claimed the tax credits through May 22 at an estimated cost of more than $21 billion.

While the tax credit extension does not benefit new buyers, the Cash to Close Sweepstakes does, putting $25,000 in total cash prizes into the hands of three winners. There is no purchase necessary and the Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older as of June 1, 2010 and who are not otherwise ineligible. Check out the official rules and submit your online entry at www.homefinder.com/sweepstakes before July 15 to qualify.

About HomeFinder.com

HomeFinder.com is one of the most trusted Web sites for consumers to search for a home and connect with a real estate professional. Distinguished by its inventory of comprehensive property listings and rich content, HomeFinder.com provides more than 3.5 million listings with customized searches and multiple options to view and manage results.

HomeFinder.com also provides simpler, more valuable online advertising solutions for agents, brokers and builders, combining the brand power of more than 130 local newspaper Web sites with exposure on a national scope, in a platform that tracks every phone call, email and click a consumer makes.

Owned jointly by three leading media companies, Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI) and Tribune Co., the HomeFinder.com Network includes The Arizona Republic, Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times and The Indianapolis Star. For more information, visit http://www.homefinder.com.

SOURCE HomeFinder.com