The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is organizing its membership to begin a letter-writing campaign to encourage Congress to extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit. NAR said 1.2m new homebuyers entered the housing market because of the $8,000 credit, including 350,000 homebuyers that would not have purchased without the credit. The credit is scheduled to expire on Nov. 30, but NAR is urging Congress to extend it through 2010. We have all seen how the credit has been a spur to bring homebuyers into the market, and have seen the beginnings of a real recovery in the housing market. Housing has always led this nation out of economic downturns, and can do so again,” said NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. NAR said its encouraging its 1.2m members to write about successes with the tax credit to senators and representatives in Congress. “The credit needs to be available for an additional period of time in order to sustain the progress that’s been made so we can continue to see our markets fully recover,” McMillan added. Write to Austin Kilgore.