Homebuyer Tax Credit Cost Rises to $16 Billion

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There’s updated data on the cost to taxpayers of the Homebuyer Tax Credit, which expired at the end of April. The U.S. Treasury reports that through March 27 some 2.2 million people had filed for the credit and the cost to the Treasury was nearly $16 billion. That’s up from 1.8 million filers through late February at a cost to Treasury of nearly $12.6 billion.

Given anecdotal evidence that April was an especially active month for home-sale transactions given the program’s pending expiration, it’s fair to assume that the final cost to the Treasury will exceed $20 billion.

So what do you think: Was it worth it?