I want to take a second to give my opinion of the tax credit. I believe that the tax credit only stimulated the economy temporarily. I also believe that it has caused this reduction in home sales that we are experiencing right now. Some blame it on the expiration of the tax credit. Well, yes and no. Let me put it to you like this...let's say we sell 100 homes per month on average per year. Now, a bonus is offered for purchasing by the third month of the year. We begin the year selling 150 homes in each of the first three months. Times are good right? Not so fast. Now there is a dip in sales the next three months because we just encouraged those that would have been buying in those second three months to purchase earlier than they normally would have. So now we are only selling 50 homes per month. Second recession? Panic? No, it is the law of averages working. The homes that would have sold during this time were already sold. More than likely the last half of the year will work itself out and we will finish the year with an average of 100 homes per month. We just have to leave it alone and let it happen. The tax credit was like putting a steak on a black eye. It relieved some of the pain, but, the black eye will run it's course and go away on it's own. It may hurt and not look too pretty, but, it will go away. And we could have always used that steak for something a lot more useful.
And that's how I see it.