Why I Think This Is The Time To Buy A Home

In the U.S. big city markets prices are continuing to fall with no end in sight and yet as a veteran real estate investor, I advise you to consider buying a home if you are in the marketplace for one and you can afford to buy. Why?

Unfortunately, so many people have lost their homes and their credit has suffered as a result so that they cannot for now qualify for a mortgage to buy another home. As a result, they have been and are flooding into the renter marketplace, helping stabilize what had been falling rents.

Meanwhile, there is a huge and growing glut of foreclosure homes but as Fannie, Freddie and the banks are looking to unload them, investor pools are forming with the intent of buying them and turning them into rentals. For a time, this will soften rental market prices but the market will absorb all of these homes and create a bottom in housing prices.

For those who can qualify, home mortgage interest rates for 30 year fixed rate mortgages are in the 4% range, some of the lowest mortgage rates in U.S. history, which when combined with housing prices that have been falling for 6 years, make those homes the most affordable they have been in 12 years.

However, I also caution you: The U.S. job market is weak, wages are flat, consumers are deeply in debt, the government's debts are quickly growing and in addition the U.S. economy is threatened by the falling European economies. So if you buy, buy with the intent of staying in your home for the long term. And in addition, before you act, please consult your local real estate professional.

But in my opinion, this is the best buyers market since the mid 1990's and hopefully one in which you can afford to buy a wonderful home for your family and yourself.

Dick
For more information, please see "Rising rents may signal a recovery," Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-rents-20120313,0,24204.story and "Rise in Phoenix Housing Shows Path for Other Cities," Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204653604577251232717986316.html