When ever I read an article in a national newspaper (like the Wall Street Journal) about real estate, I pause and count to 10 because my clients may be reading the same article and draw the same conclusions – after all, the writers are talented journalists who do extensive research and write informative articles that apply to their readers – the whole country!!

What’s the problem? Real estate is a regional, localized business that changes from town to town within the same county!

Let’s look at some of our local statistics in southern Connecticut. For the 22 towns in my service area, median sale prices changed (comparing 2007 to 2008) from minus 35.3% to plus 4.1% with an average change of minus 2.7% ($380,842 to $370,644).

For days on the market, the range is from minus 31.9% to plus 70.4% with an average of minus 9.2% (from 97 days on the market to 106 days on the market) for all 22 towns. Holy smokes, batman, that’s a lot of variation in a small geographic area; imagine the variation in the whole region or state!

The Wall Street Journal article (Page R1, Dec 2, 2008) continues, “…Economists and other pros generally say home prices won’t bottom out before the second half of 2009” and “…the experts say, you should generally expect house prices to rise just a bit more than inflation and roughly in line with household income”

Later in the article, they talk about demographics and their effect on home prices – two economists predicted in 1989 that demographic trends would lead to a substantial fall in …….…home prices over the next two decades. What actually happened is that average U.S. home prices increased 35%.

My advice, don’t wait to buy or sell, if you’re ready, move ahead. Getting wrapped up in what the pundits say will only confuse you.

Key questions to ask yourself:

1. Is your job secure? Is the job market in your city stable?

2. Do you have a small amount of debt (less than 38% including any current mortgage principal, interest, taxes and insurance)?

3. Do you have sufficient savings for a 10% or 20% down payment?

4. Are you planning on living in a new house for 3-5 years?

5. Do you have a good credit rating (620 or above)? Just a sampling of some of the critical questions you should consider – a good mortgage broker or bank can tell you what programs would be best for your situation.

If you’re ready, go ahead; make your dreams become reality; put your house on the market; move to that water view home that you’ve admired over the years; when you see a path in the woods that bends to the right, go left and leave a path for others to follow!