With home sales up, tax credit evaluated

New home sales rose 9.6 percent last month, with 433,000 sold in July and 395,000 sold in June, CNBC’s Diana Olick reported. This kind of data is encouraging, according to Olick, who says that both those figures show significant growth. “For two months running … we’re seeing big jumps up in new home sales,” Olick said, adding that, despite the encouraging news, the influence of the first-time homebuyer’s tax credit should be kept in mind. “Is it all based on that first-time homebuyer’s tax credit or can it sustain past that? That’s the big question we’re going to see in the months going forward.”