Will housing market survive without tax credit?

As a November 30 expiration date looms for the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, some financial analysts are wondering whether the housing market can continue to survive without it. The program will have cost the government an estimated $15 billion when all is said and done, according to the New York Times, with several hundred thousand home sales spurred on by the tax incentive. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s, believes that the tax credit has been so useful that it should be expanded to all homebuyers. “The risks of not doing something like this are too great,” Zandi said. “I don’t think the coast is clear.”