Existing homes are starting to move again. Last month, home resales hit their highest level in more than two years, thrashing expectations. The 9.4% increase in home resales -- which entails a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.57 million -- is attributed largely to the deadline for the first-time home buyer tax credit.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the annualized, seasonally adjusted rate is up from the 5.1 million in August and far ahead of the 5.35 million expected for September (based on economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters).

It's going to get worse before it gets better, according to Stone & McCarthy Research. Early 2010 has "the more troublesome outlook," as the economy will have to walk on its own, the research firm says. This year, it's had a pair of crutches: tax credits for first-time home buyers and the cash-for-clunkers program. So, if the stimulus hasn't taken hold by the end of the year, the first quarter could be a bruiser.

The firm adds that "continued growth in aggregate demand" is needed, bringing the discussion back to consumer spending . . . which is where it will always land. We're likely to see the 3.2% growth rate from July through September drop to 2.4% at the end of the year because the crutches will have been gone. And, let's not forget that unemployment is expected to break the 10% level next year.

Perhaps the Democrats and Republicans can agree on one tactic capable of stimulating the U.S. economy: the $8,000 income tax credit for first-time home buyers.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, Thursday hinted that Congress is not only evaluating whether to extend the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers past its November 30 deadline, but also is weighing whether to expand the program.

"There's under consideration whether we extend the first-time homeowners' credit," Pelosi told reporters today in Washington Thursday, Bloomberg News reported. "And the question is, would that be just first-time homeowners or would you open it up to other purchasers of homes?"