If you plan on owning your home for more than just a few years, rest assured that Southern California is not just a popular worldwide destination, it’s an excellent long term investment. It is important to note that you cannot believe everything you hear or read in the media:

• "The prices of houses seem to have reached a plateau, and there is reasonable expectancy that prices will decline." - Time Magazine 1947
• "Houses cost too much for the mass market. Today's average price is out of reach for two-thirds of all buyers." - Science Digest 1948 (average price at the time: $8,000)
• "The goal of owning a home seems to be getting beyond the reach of more and more Americans." - Business Week 1969 (average price at the time: $28,000)
• "Most economists agree... a home will become little more than a roof and a tax deduction, certainly not the lucrative investment it was..." - Money Magazine 1981
• "We're starting to go back to the time when you bought a home not for its potential money-making abilities, but rather as a nesting spot." - Los Angeles Times 1993
• "Financial planners agree that houses will continue to be a poor investment." - Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine 1993
• "A home is where the bad investment is." - San Francisco Examiner 1996

Rates are great. Sellers are motivated. There are a lot of choices. It is great to be a buyer. So, look for the home that best fits your family’s needs and write an offer. Keep in mind that the sales to list price ratio is 95%, erasing the necessity to bring in a lowball offer. If you are a buyer, you may be concerned about falling prices, which is understandable. But, if you are going to live in the home for several years, the market will surpass its record levels again. Also, rates are not going to always be this low. As soon as the market is on the mend, Bernanke and the Federal Reserve are going to increase the rates to ease their fears of inflation and monthly mortgage payments for new loans will rise. If you bought a home for the current detached median price, $655,000, with 20% down, at the current jumbo rate of approximately 6.5%, the mortgage payment would be $3,312. Even if values were to decline by 10%, bringing the $655,000 home to $590,000, if rates were to increase to 7.5%, they payment would be $3,298 per month, a savings of $14. If rates were to increase to 8%, that payment would rise to $3,460, or $148 more. Plus, if you bought today, the first year interest tax write off for taxes would be $34,000. So, buy now and have a place to call home knowing that you made a wise decision.