UPDATE 1-Florida considers 1st-time home buyer tax break

* Florida considering home buyer tax break

* Citizens would need to approve break on 2010 ballot (Adds builder association comment, background, byline)

By Helen Chernikoff

NEW YORK, March 12 (Reuters) - The Florida state House of Representatives is considering a bill that would provide a tax break for home buyers.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Carl Domino, a Republican from Jupiter, Florida, would give first-time buyers a 50 percent property-value exemption.

That would amount to a $2,000 savings on a $200,000 home in the first year, said Edie Ousley, a spokeswoman for the Florida Home Builders Association. The break would phase out after five years and decrease by 20 percent each year, she said.

Beneficiaries would receive the tax break in the form of a reduction on their property taxes, Ousley said.

The bill has passed a House committee but has no counterparty as yet in the Senate. If both houses pass it and the governor signs it, it goes to a popular vote in 2010, where 60 percent of voters must approve it, said Ousley.

The homebuilding industry is mired in its worst slump since the Great Depression, triggered by rampant risky lending and speculation during the boom years and exacerbated by the recent recession.

As one of the states that experienced one of the most dramatic surges in home production and value during the boom, Florida has also been one of the hardest hit by the bust, with a 22-month supply of housing stock, Ousley said.

California, another state hit hard by the housing decline, passed a $10,000 home buyer tax credit with its budget in late February.

The federal stimulus bill offers an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers whose annual income can not exceed $75,000 per person or $150,000 per couple. California's beneficiaries can use the credit only for new construction but they do not need to be first-time buyers, nor must they meet income standards.

The major builders most concentrated in Florida are Standard Pacific Corp (SPF.N), which has 23 percent of its communities in the state; Lennar Corp (LEN.N), with 19 percent and KB Home (KBH.N), with 15 percent, according to data from analyst Carl Reichardt of Wachovia Capital Markets LLC.

Representatives in the offices of Florida's governor and Domino could not be reached. (Reporting by Helen Chernikoff; editing by Richard Chang, Bernard Orr)