As real estate professionals, we can celebrate the fact that the first time home buyer tax credit has indeed fulfilled its intended purpose. The IRS recently reported that 1.4 million people nationwide have taken advantage of the incentive. The tax credit was just what the housing market needed to encourage home shoppers to buy now instead of hesitating as well as give motivation to those that may not have even been considering a new home purchase.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit is one of them. First time home shoppers have only two months left to take advantage of the tax credit as it ends on December 1st. However, that is still plenty of time for any Atlanta new home shopper to peruse the inventory at many metro Atlanta communities, most of which have drastically discounted the price of their homes and are offering other incentives.

The big question is – the tax credit has motivated so many buyers to get involved in the real estate industry, so will the Atlanta real estate market suffer once the tax credit ends?

UPDATED information. The 8000 Home Buyer Tax Credit was renewed and extended. Click to read a more recent story on the Tax Credit Extension.