The news media reports tell you that home values have experienced the largest declines in many, many years. Has this become an obstacle in your decision for purchasing a home?

I can understand your anxiety. Who wants to purchase a home when you believe it will immediately decline in value?

Understand this, real estate is local!! The new media reports national trends. Very rarely, if ever, do they dig deeper through the report.

Just a few days ago the Federal Housing Finance Agency published the latest Housing Price Report for the quarter ending December 31, 2008. Yes, this report disclosed that the purchase-only price index fell 3.4% in the fourth quarter. This is the largest quarterly decline in the 18 year history of this index. The all-transactions index, which includes appraised values deriving from refinance activity, fell 4.5% during 2008.

To view the entire Federal Housing Agency report click here.

What about your local area? How have home values performed in your location? Is anyone reporting to you this information?

Let me share with you the statistics in my location. Let me first share with the data for my state, North Carolina. The purchase only index reflects that home prices declined 3.66% in 2008. But did you know that over a 5 year period that home prices in North Carolina have increased 21.64%? Would you believe that since 1991 that home values in my state have increased 93.87%?. This is the data contained in the report.

Let me take you a bit deeper and give you information for my home location. In Greenville, NC home values declined 0.38% in 2008, but have increased 18.25% over the most recent 5 year period, according to the all transactions home price index.

Why don’t we look at this in terms of dollars rather than percentages? For every $100,000 in values home prices declined $380 in the last year. In Greenville, NC home values have increased $18,250 over the last 5 years per $100,000 in value.

Data I don’t have is what is occurring in the sub-division that you are interested in. Contact your real estate agent and request information by sub-division. What were homes selling for in your chosen sub-division a year ago, two years ago? What have homes been selling for recently? After all, all real estate is local.

The phrase, “this is a buyers market”, should tell you it is time to buy! With proper research you can find homes at a good value in neighborhoods that historically do well.

I will tell you this, if you are planning to buy with the intent to sell within the next two years, then this many not be the market for you. If you are planning to purchase a home and intend to continue to own that property for longer than 5 years, there may be no better time than now to purchase that home.

Remember, you are considering purchasing a home. A place to protect you from the cold and rain.

Just some quick advice:

• Meet with a trusted knowledgeable mortgage lender to determine both your pre-approval and comfort level for the price range of the home you are looking to buy

Engage a professional real estate agent to provide you with market data in your location. Have them provide you with sales information for the past couple of years for your desired neighborhoods.

Be patient, be selective and dig deep. You will be OK.

This is your moment. It is a buyers market!

Jay Williams

http://www.myhomeloanwithjay.com