The $6,500 homebuyer tax credit is getting existing homeowners off the fence and to the closing table, according to a Campbell Communications monthly survey of real estate market conditions. Existing homeowners accounted for 41% of home purchase transactions in November, up from 38% in October. First-time homebuyers decreased from 47% in October to 45% in November, and investors’ share of activity declined 1% to 14% in November. “Our survey statistics are showing the effect of Congress’s delay in extending the homebuyer tax credit and then its eventual extension,” said the study’s research director, Thomas Popik. “The first-time homebuyers started to lose interest in October when it appeared that Congress wouldn’t extend the credit. When the credit was finally extended in early November, current homeowners jumped at the new opportunity for a tax credit on their home purchases.” Activity in the non-distressed market also increased. The share of non-distressed houses purchased jumped from 58% in October to 63% in November. Existing homeowners tend to purchase non-distressed properties, the firm said. The market report is a survey of 1,500 real estate agents across the US. Write to Austin Kilgore.