Should the $8,000 tax credit be extended for first time buyers?

The simple answer is "of course it should"!  When existing home owners list their property for sale to upgrade or relocate, they add inventory to the saturated housing market.  However, when a renter purchases a home, they deplete inventory from the saturated market.  Over 300,000 new home buyers have benefited from this tax credit, which has helped stabilize home values and market saturation.  Additionally, there are loan programs available for these buyers that don't exist for existing home owners.  These programs will continue to help sell HUD owned properties, and jump-start the economic future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  I don't think the majority of qualified buyers knew the tax credit approved by the Reinvestment Act of 2009 was a gift by the government that never had to be repaid. So many buyers thought the money was still a short-term loan, like the 2008 Bush plan.  If the tax credit is extended, I predict the housing market will rise from the ruins and stabilize in the next 12 - 18 months.  Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope Congress approves the extension we so desperately need to sell houses.