The U.S. Senate is working on a bill that would extend the first-time buyer home credit of $8,000 and add a new credit of $6,500 for homeowners who have lived in their current home for 5 years or more. The new provision, if enacted, would go into effect on December 1, 2009. The new bill is expected to cost upwards of $10 billion.The tax credit has been an important driver of real estate transactions over the last quarter and one of the primary reasons that national real estate transaction volumes and prices have begun to . . .