What are real estate professionals saying to homebuyers and sellers about current market conditions? The successful brokers and sales associates are talking about the strengths that exist in the market - not the negative media hype. Below are positive angles that appeared recently in the media and underscore why it is a good time to buy real estate.
Recent Quotes about the Positive Signs in the Real Estate Market:
The Time is Right for First-Time Homebuyers
Generally, homes are becoming more affordable, and mortgage rates - though somewhat volatile over recent weeks - are still relatively low. "This is one of the best times that a first-time home buyer has had in a long, long time. (First time buyers should) get qualified and go to a Realtor ... and then ask the questions 'What if the property drops,' and 'What if the rates go up?' The cost of capital is important to look at. It's possible that even if prices do drop significantly, interest rates could go up, making the savings negligible."
Buyers Should Think Locally when Gauging the Market
Cities such as Seattle; Austin, Texas; and Wichita, Kan., are still seeing price increases. And even in hard-hit cities, certain neighborhoods are holding up better than others. Don't forget that home buying is always a street-by-street exercise, and that is particularly true in a weak market. In a strong market, buyers scarf up homes on busy streets or less-than-desirable locations. But in a down market, things change. Just about anything sold in the hot market of 2004 and 2005, but now "it's location, location, location - more than ever."
Buying Opportunities: Three Ways to Play the Market
Ø Trading up. If you're hankering after a larger home or a house in a better neighborhood, this could be your chance to trade up on the cheap. Like any thrifty shopper, you want to buy when there's a sale and that is what today's market offers.
Ø Doubling down. Instead of trading up, you might be eyeing a vacation home. The bottom line: If you think you'll get a lot of use from a second home, go ahead and buy.
Ø Helping hand. You might give your kids an advance on their eventual inheritance, so they have enough money to make a down payment. Yes, that means they will start to incur the housing costs, including property taxes and maintenance expenses. But your children will also replace their monthly rent check with a monthly mortgage check, and that will allow them to start building home equity.
Regional Update: Good News from Markets around the Nation
Philadelphia
The local real estate market is starting to loosen a bit. Showings in some neighborhoods are up substantially this year, agents report, after being down almost 50 percent between August and the end of 2007. Driving the upsurge in traffic, at least in part, are prospective first-time homeowners, who in the first true buyers' market of the 21st century don't have to worry about selling a house.
San Jose, Calif. (Silicon Valley)
"Now is still a good time to buy a home because rates are very low, and there are still good opportunities, good properties, and good deals. Silicon Valley is always going to have a certain degree of demand because we have an international demand. There are many local businesses relocating people from overseas here because the euro is very strong against the dollar. And because of a strong job market in our area, there is a constant demand for housing in Silicon Valley."
Springfield, Ill.
With a gain last year of 14.4 percent, to a median price of $108,600, Springfield placed tops in the Midwest in the strength of its single-family housing market, according to the National Association of Realtors. That would be Springfield capital city of Illinois, yes, but otherwise hardly the prototype of the bustling, fast-growing and hugely desirable markets associated with housing booms. But that's the point: As real estate bubbles elsewhere in the country have gone flat, Springfield looks better and better as it continues to see double-digit price increases for homes.
Oklahoma
Statewide, Oklahoma had an increase in home values of 4.2 percent last year, the seventh consecutive year in increases. While total sales were down slightly from a record high in 2006, 2007 was still in the top three years ever recorded. The state is adding jobs and in some areas, there's explosive growth. In the west, new manufacturing plants are joining the air force base at Altus to produce jobs. Consequently, Altus recorded a 34 percent increase in sales for 2007.
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