Home owners are finding it difficult to take advantage of the move-up tax credit, which is one more handicap slowing the housing market.

Move-up buyers represented 53 percent of the 2009 market, down from an average of 60 percent in previous years, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS ®. While many would like to take advantage of the tax credit, a significant number are unable to sell their current residences and/or get financing for a trade up.

Even young professionals with good salaries can’t make the leap, says Janice Leis, a broker-associate in Boca Raton, Fla., affiliated with Prudential Fox & Roach Real Estate. A lot of people think it will be great, and then they look into it and find out they won't get it, Leis says. It's like false advertising. They get out with their hopes up, and they get their hopes dashed.

It’s a real problem, adds Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. For a well-functioning market, you have to have that trade-up buyer.

Source: USA Today, Stephanie Armour