Did the Federal Tax Credit Help?

Yes and No...it depends on where you live.

At first glance the Tax Credit was a huge success in that home sales in NYC during June 2010 were the highest they had been since 2006. But, at closer examination most of the purchases that qualified for the Tax Credit were in the outer boroughs. Buyers in Manhattan generally earned to much or were spending too much for the Tax Credit to have had an impact.

The interesting part of this story is that despite the $8,000 having little or no impact on the Manhattan housing market, transactions spiked at the same time (June 2010) as it did in the outer parts of the city where the Credit did have an impact.

Most experts see this as a coinsidence based on pent up demand from buyers that had been on the fence since the financial crisis hit at the end of 2008.

But...we may just never know for sure.