According to the survey, the top way homeowners would spend their $6,500 tax credit in a ìsmartî way would be to pay off debts (34 percent), followed closely by making home improvements (29 percent) and putting it into savings and investments (28 percent).

In addition, Coldwell Banker Real Estate found that 20 percent of homeowners indicated they were more likely to consider purchasing a home than they were six months ago, after learning about the $6,500 federal tax credit. The tax credit, which previously only was for first-time homebuyers, is now available to existing homeowners who sign a binding contract before April 30, 2010 and close on the purchase of a home before June 30, 2010. To learn more about the details of the expanded homebuyer tax credit, go to www.coldwellbanker.com

"I congratulate Congress and the Administration on the passage of the ëThe Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009í," said Clark W. Toole, III, President, Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate of Florida. ìThe National Association of Realtors recently reported that 47 percent of 2009 home sales were to first-time homebuyers, so clearly the initial tax credit worked.

Toole added, "The fastest moving price range is $250,000 and under. This is due to investors in the market and the homebuyer tax credit being attractive for the first-time homebuyers to purchase. Our local market data coupled with the findings from our survey offer positive indicators that there are more existing homeowners considering a home purchase today than there were six months ago, and the majority of respondents say they would engage in "smart spendingí that would directly benefit the U.S. economy."

Methodology: Coldwell Banker Real Estate engaged ICR, an independent research company, to conduct an omnibus survey via telephone in November 2009, among a nationally representative sample of 1008 homeowners. The margin of error for total respondents is +/-3.09% at the 95% confidence level.