First-time buyers intensify their house hunting
MarketWatch
By Amy Hoak
...NAR estimates that about 1.8 million to 2 million first-time buyers will take advantage of the tax credit this year, and says that roughly 350,000 sales wouldn't have taken place without the credit.
But the effectiveness of the credit will eventually peter out because there are only so many potential first-time buyers, said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California. He said that the credit is likely getting many first-time buyers to make their purchases six months to a year earlier than they would have anyway.
"In terms of how effective it is, I don't think it does any harm at this point. It's pushing sales forward that would have happened anyway," he said. "You're giving money to people who were going to buy anyway."
Increasing the credit amount to $15,000 and expanding it to everyone, however, could end up translating to higher home prices, he added...