November Home Sale Surge

New Home Sale Surges for the end of 2009

Highest Record of Home Sales Since 2007!

More and more homebuyers are taking advantage of the federal homebuyer tax credit, creating a huge surge of home sales. November home sales rose nationally by 7.4 percent and are the highest reported level of sales in nearly three years. 51 percent of homebuyers in November used the federal homebuyer tax credit. The $8,000 tax credit was extended for the first four months of 2010 and expanded to grant a $6,500 credit to qualified current homeowners looking to buy a new home.

"Things are stabilizing," said Pete Flint, chief executive of real estate Web site Trulia.com. "There is a significant amount of buyer interest out there." The national association's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said the tax credit buyers certainly helped inflate numbers in November, but he thinks it might be just the tip of the iceberg.

"This clearly is a rush of first-time buyers not wanting to miss out on the tax credit, but there are many more potential buyers who can enter the market in the months ahead," Yun said. He said he is hopeful that the market, which has been propped up by the federal government incentives would be self-sustaining by the second half of 2010.