The race to meet the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, as well as the $6,500 incentive for existing owners, ended on April 30, 2010.

And according to a report released today by the National Association of REALTORS®, a rush of buyers made a mad dash to the finish line and crossed it at the last possible moment.

Sales of pre-existing homes rose 6 percent in April 2010, making it the third consecutive month-over-month increase and the highest level since Oct. 2009.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, talks about the power of the tax credits:

“There were concerns that only a small pool of buyers were left to take advantage of the tax credit extension. But evidently the tax stimulus, combined with improved consumer confidence and low mortgage interest rates, are contributing to surging sales…. The home buyer tax credit brought close to 1 million additional buyers into the market, which is now helping the trade-up market and has significantly improved the inventory situation. This stabilized home prices more quickly and has preserved about $900 billion in home equity; in turn, that is keeping additional households from going underwater and risking foreclosure.”

All told, more than 2.6 million households took advantage of the tax credit as of April 2010, according to the Internal Revenue Service, at a cost of $18.7 billion. Those numbers will likely rise in the near future — homebuyers who have signed sales contracts (as of April 30, 2010) still have until the end of this month (June) to finalize their deals and qualify for the credits.

Did you miss the deadline?

The good news, for buyers/investors, is that mortgage interest rates and home prices are still at all-time lows. Feel free to search for foreclosed home for sale in your area right here.

And according to Lew Reich, an agent at Keller Williams Realty in Plano, Texas, the rush to get contracts signed in time has been hectic:

“It’s gone nuts. We’re seeing a very strong rush, strong sales, a lot of people are being energized by the end of the credit.”

The nearly two-year program, which was introduced to help boost a struggling nationwide housing economy in July 2008, officially comes to a close on June 30, 2010.

That’s if and only if you can get a binding contract dated no later than today (April 30, 2010) in your hands. As long as it closes in the next two months,  you can still claim your $6,500 or $8,000 tax credit.

To search for the best deals in your area right now and potentially get in at the last possible minute click here.

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Remember: You need to get a deal in the works by this Friday, April 30, 2010, and close by June 30, 2010, to be eligible for the first time ($8,000) or existing ($6,500) tax credits.

Of course, the limited-time blog reader special discount on our FREE 7-Day Trial is also set to expire at the end of this month.

Hurry!

Be sure to act fast because the best deals — and these incentives — won’t last much longer! Search now.

… because home sales nationwide are better than they were before the incentive was introduced earlier this year, according to Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors® (NAR) chief economist:

“Home sales retrenched from a very strong improvement in July but continue to be much higher than before the stimulus. The first-time buyer tax credit is having the intended impact of bringing buyers into the market, allowing them to take advantage of very favorable affordability conditions…. Now that the market is showing some momentum, we have an opportunity to achieve a more rapid and broader stabilization in home prices. Extending and expanding the tax credit also would help to keep other families from becoming upside down in their mortgages or risk foreclosure.”

NAR continues to push hard to extend the $8,000 tax credit for new homebuyers, which is currently set to expire on Nov. 30, 2009. Regardless of what happens, the trade association reinforces once again what we have been shouting from the rooftops:

START SEARCH RIGHT NOW BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!

We’re down to the wire — two months in the real estate business can go very fast.