Why the first-time homebuyer tax credit will be extended

The New York Timesreports that "After several disastrous months for home sales across the country, when volume dropped by 23%, the pace appears to be picking up again."

The reason? The first-time home-buyer tax credit is set to expire on April 30, and people are moving quickly to take advantage. But here's the problem: If you look at it objectively, it would be an absolute disaster to end the tax credit on schedule and it's likely to be extended again. The problem is that no one in Washington can say that because the whole point of the credit is to spur sales and move buyers off the sidelines, and so we continue on with a comical "It's really gonna end this time! I mean it!" routine every few months until it's extended again. David North of Coldwell Banker Bain in DuVal, Washington blogged that "Some real estate agents are pushing their clients so hard to buy in time to take the tax credit, that their clients are dumping them to work with less pushy agents." Consumers are perhaps less moved by warnings about the expiration of the tax credit, given that it's already been expanded and extended twice.