Below are simple, tangible results from the recent tax credit.  Home prices jumped 6.8% for the month of March, with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million units of existing property sold, compared to the same rate in February of 5.01 million. Experts had predicted the March figures to come in at 5.29 million units. Compared to the year before, sales were up 16.1%, a truly significant increase. These findings mark the ninth straight month where sales were higher than that month the year before.

Many agree that the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit was an important incentive to close on purchases of existing homes, especially since the credit was expanded to cover higher income brackets and those who had previously owned a home. By extending the credit to sales contracts signed by April 30^th and closing on or before June 30^th, the government extended the spring market.

What was surprisingly absent, however, was the "mad dash" of last-minute sales expected at the end of April. Instead, it seemed that these purchases had already taken place with enough time to qualify the homebuyers for the tax credit. Many realtors noted the increase in business, even if there wasn't an additional rush surrounding the tax credit's deadline. Most buyers were aware of the government program's deadline and were therefore working hard to get their homes under contract by April 30th. Some real estate offices even reported sales being twice the amount of those for April of last year.