No doubt that the current economy and housing market are greatly struggling today. But there is also good news that reports that come out from National Association of Estate Agents show home buying and selling is improving primarily from improved interest rates, although only slightly. The encouraging news is that there is a seen increase in people looking to buy, as well as new homes on the market.
Unfortunately, first-time buyers have had a difficult time buying homes in recent years because of price. In fact, studies indicate that this group accounts for only 10.8% of homes sold.
Though with encouraging numbers, there many people that are asking if 2009 is an ideal year to buy a home. To be able to determine the answer to this question, the Financial Times conducted a study consisting of 50 economists. Among these professionals, 60% stated that 2009 was not the right time to buy a home while the remaining 40% disagreed but only if property was purchased during the fourth quarter.
40% of the economist felt that it is safe to buy a home in 2009 for the main reason that supported their decision was that getting people to buy real estate would help protect and even boost a declining financial market. The interest rates look optimistic for the entire yearas agreed by mortgage lenders. And some believe that at the end of 2009, more credit will become available for buyers, especially with the government’s aid.
You will also find economists that expect to see falling real estate prices throughout the remainder of 2009 and into 2010. In fact, several respected companies have put numbers to their forecasting. For instance, Capital Economics believes housing prices will go down an additional 20%, Insight is predicting 15%, and JP Morgan is going with 10%. While difficult to hear, these experts are expecting an end within a short amount of time.
For these and other experts to make such predictions, numerous factors come into play such as rising unemployment, high debt-to-income ratio, restrictions on credit, slow economic growth, and others.
Overall, rash decisions are not made by people. It is thought that demand for real estate will continue to be low because of the high unemployment numbers. And of course, some might prefer to buy a new home, which comes with many benefits. Yes, even though buyers continue to exist, most have lost faith already in the concept of real estate being a sound financial investment, a nice way to build equity and get a return on investment.
Jamie Harris is a real estate investor based in Texas. He is a former estate agent and writes widely about issues related to real estate and finance. His current interests are focused on the UK quick house sale market and how it’s been affected by their property crash. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service
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