We've passed earlier information about the economic impact of the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit. Basically the analysis is that most buyers would have purchased anyway, so the actual cost of each home purchased because of the tax credit is over $40,000 per sale. Still it's hard to evaluate the impact of incentives on motivating people to act.
However, it
appears that the first time home buyer credit will be extended, if for no other reason than to make sure that the people currently in the que can obtain the credit. At least one form of proposed extension will phase out the credit over a longer period in 2010.
