Home buyers race to beat credit deadline

With thousands of dollars at stake, homeowners and prospective buyers across Massachusetts are scrambling to close real estate deals in time to beat Wednesday’s deadline for a home buyers tax credit.

Lenders are adding extra staff and some local registries of deeds are postponing vacations, anticipating a rush of lawyers seeking to record home sales for their clients. The National Association of Realtors estimates that as many as 180,000 home buyers across the United States may miss the cut-off date.

Some, realizing they cannot finalize purchases in time, have already backed out of deals. Others are counting on lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to extend the deadline for the federal tax incentive, which was intended to jolt the dormant housing market by enticing prospective buyers with up to $8,000.

“It is crunch time,’’ said Kevin Sears, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and co-owner of Sears Real Estate in Springfield, which has two pending deals in jeopardy. While the majority of buyers will meet the deadline, Sears said, others are frantic.