Reply #60: Most economists oppose the housing credit.

[girl gone mad]

It's an extremely inefficient stimulus, costing $43,000 per additional buyer.

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/09/streitfeld-housing-tax-credit-debate.html

It's also ineffective on the whole, pushing up the vacancy rate, putting pressure on rents which leads to more commercial defaults and deflation. The credit temporarily increases demand, but at some point this demand will dry up and housing prices will again resume their slide to historical price to rent ratios. In addition to the large amounts of fraud related to the credit, many of the buyers using the credit are only marginally qualified to purchase. I would expect the default rate of this group to be significantly higher than average.

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/10/housing-tax-credit-nahb-projections-and.html