Is There Any Good News in the Housing Market?

As a matter of fact, there is! The Economic Recovery has been painful, but there are signs that we may, actually, be recovering. It's still a long road to the top, but it's my opinion we've started to climb.

The stock market is looking better, even with the GM Bankruptcy problem. The April Pending Homes Sales showed a 3.2% improvement over a year ago, now up to 6.7%. Mortgage rates are starting to creep up to over 5% ... but give me a break! I remember when mortgage rates at 8% were considered a great deal, and that wasn't very long ago; and it was just a year ago when we were looking at 6.09%. Some other statistics show April Personal Income was up with wages and salaries inceasing for the first time in 8 months; however, consumers are still holding tight to their money, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Everyone needs to know they can hold enough in reserve to pay the bills for next month.

In my opinion, this is a great time to buy real estate. For investors, it's the first time in a long time where they can put minimum down and still make their investments cash flow. For first time homebuyers, they can be assured of an $8,000 tax credit provided they close before November 30th. (Note: "First time" means they haven't owned or bought a primary residence within the last 3 years.) And prices are really, really low. Find yourself some short sales and suffer the waiting period ... it's worth it in the long run because banks are now looking at taking offers on what the current market value is worth, not what is owed on the property. I even spoke to a lender yesterday that wasn't requiring a big "short sale packet" that includes mounds of paperwork showing why the Seller can't afford the house any more; but were willing to look at just an offer to purchase, a net proceeds statement and current market analysis. Yea! What a boon!

So, if you've been fence sitting waiting for the bottom to arrive, time to leap off that fence and into the market. There may never be another one like it for years to come!