Home Prices to Fall Until the Second Half of 2008
If you are planning to buy a home, now may be the time — or at least you should consider it before the middle of the year. Home sales numbers recently released by the National Association of Realtors are still showing a slowdown. And in some markets, that means that home sales (and likely prices) could still be heading down, creating motivated sellers and mortgage brokers desperate to find qualified borrowers. The New York Times reports on expectations for home sales:
Mr. Newport predicted home sales would fall another 5 to 10 percent before picking up at the end of the year, while the Realtors group forecasts sales would remain flat in the first half of the year before rebounding in the second half.
However, as pointed out above, home sales and prices are expected to recover by the end of the year. Alan Greenspan feels that the market will stabilize by the end of 2008 or early 2009.
For you, that means that now may be a good time to buy a home. Home prices aren’t going to go too much lower — if you agree with the analysts — and mortgage interest rates are still fairly low. This means that you are likely to get a good deal on both a home and your mortgage financing.
But there is always risk. The analysts (and Alan Greenspan) could be wrong. They’ve been wrong before. If you are planning to flip the house after purchase, you may find yourself in trouble. But if you plan to live in the house for a long period of time, you may find yourself doing much better. “Buy low, sell high” works just as well for real estate as it does for stock investing.
Tags: mortgage interest rates, home prices, home mortgage loan, mortgage loan blog,
Alan Greenspan, real estate market, home sales
