News You Can Use - My Thoughts on the Housing Recovery

When it comes to the economy, any good news is worth talking about.  Looking over recent articles, it's great to see some positive headlines.  Although, all you have to do is take a closer look to see that the financial forecast is heavily laced with caution, concern, and continued fear.

An MSNBC article from Tuesday is a great example:  The headline reads "Home prices gain for seventh straight month".  Good news, right?  The article begins by stating that "the U.S. housing market continues its bumpy recovery."  But for all of the very small gains cited by this article, the following excerpts are how the story ended:

"But there are still obstacles that could derail recovery...First, consumer confidence took a surprisingly sharp fall in February...Also, roughly roughly 5 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are in foreclosure...And, some economists fear that demand and prices will fall after two federal tax credits expire in April."

and finally...

"The most likely outcome is that it will take years to work through the glut of foreclosures, keeping home prices bouncing around the bottom for quite some time."

It's not sounding so great anymore.

So what does this mean for you?  Be optimistic.  Look at your own situation, not just the news.  Even in this economy there are people working, and there are people thriving.  You can get caught up in the fear, or determine what's best for you and your family.

In an "up market", if you wanted to move up to a bigger home, you would be able to sell your home for more, but you would be paying more too.  In a "down market", although you may not get as much for your home, moving up costs much less as well.  In fact, moving up may cost less during a down market!

So does it really matter if we are in a down market, or an up market?  The difference is really whether or not you let the news dictate the decisions that you make.