Ever wish you had a chance to do it over again? Do you remember hearing just a few years ago, "I wish I had bought that house a decade earlier...." According to the economists at NAR, this period we are living in gives us an opportunity to do it again and get it right this time. Never has housing been more affordable. A combination of historically low interest rates and falling prices makes this a great time to buy. Now we have to let the public know, before reality sets in and interest rates rise as a consequence of our weak dollar.
NAR predicts that the rate of housing units sold next year will rise to 5.7 million units, up marginally from 5.5 million units this year. The housing numbers were dismal earlier in the year, but were helped dramatically by the $8000 first time buyer tax credit. The program brought 400,000 first time home buyers into the market. Anyone who is trying to close a mortgage right now can feel the crush. Banks are very slow to process all those buyers. It will be interesting to see the end result of all these sales, and if they will stimulate the greater economy as people buy furniture, flooring, appliances and decorations.
Sales are at the pace they were a decade ago, but our country continues to grow in population. What does this all mean? Pent up demand for homes. If you have a buyer, get them in now. Prices may drop next year, but what is to keep interest rates from rising? The government can only keep interest rates suppressed for so long. Eventually the foreign investors buying our debt are going to demand a better return to buy our treasury bills. This has been a tough year for real estate, but things are slowly looking up. I just returned from the Realtors Convention in San Diego, and the consensus among the CRS members I spoke to is that things are improving. Better banking practices, a population that now saves rather than spending every dollar, and a slowly improving economy should provide us with a brighter 2010. Happy selling!
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