$7,500 Home Buyers Credit

Starting this week, hundreds of thousands of potential buyers who've been on the sidelines can purchase a new or resale house and qualify for the credit. The National Association of Realtors estimates that up to two million sales could be stimulated by the credit in the coming 11 months, and the National Association of Home Builders anticipates a "multiplier effect" in the move-up segment of the market.

That's because people who sell houses to buyers using the credit will then often need to go out and find replacement homes for themselves -- effectively rippling the impact of the credit upstream, triggering even more sales.

Since there's no Congressional limit on how many buyers can take advantage of the new incentive, it could prove to be huge. It all depends on whether Realtors, builders and individual sellers educate potential buyers about how to factor the credit into affording a new home.

In other economic news this week, mortgage rates jumped to their highest level in nearly a year, 6.6 percent for 30-year fixed rate conventional loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America.

On the plus side, the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment survey -- a key economic barometer affecting consumers' willingness to spend - rose a surprising five points last month.

And still another surprise: The national home ownership rate -- defying all gloom and doom predictions -- jumped to 68.1 percent in the latest quarter, up from 67.8 percent.