Why It's Time To Buy

The latest news is starting to show the light at the end of the tunnel: we are finally turning the corner with a more positive Real Estate outlook! Attached is the first page of a Wall Street Journal article from June 4 about home ownership.

If you are looking or thinking about purchasing your new home, if you have just purchased or are thinking about selling your home, or even if you are just wondering where we are heading, this article will brighten your day.

Please feel free to contact me anytime at (347) 879-0730 for any Real Estate information and/or questions. I am also always honored to receive your referrals of any family member, friend, or colleague who may be thinking about purchasing or selling Real Estate. I am never too busy to help – a referral is the best compliment you could give me! 

Thank you and I hope you have a great summer!

Why It's Time To Buy

"The Clouds Haven't Quite Parted, But The Long-Term Case For Home Ownership Is Looking Stronger - By Ruth Simon & Jessica Silver-Greenberg

Back in June 2006, when the housing market peaked, the prospect of a five-year national housing bust seemed unimaginable to most people. And yet here we are, with the latest Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller index showing that prices hit new bear-market lows, falling back to 2002 levels nationally and to 1990s levels in some battered regions.

Despite all the gloom, however, there are growing indications that it is a good time to buy. Mortgage rates, which fell to 4.55% for the week ending June 2, according to Freddie Mac, are near 50-year lows. Homes have become more affordable than they have been in years: According to Moody's Analytics, the ratio of home prices to income is now 20.9% lower than the 15-year average through 2010, and 12.5% lower than the 1989-2004 average. A historic glut of homes, meanwhile, has created a buyer's market: There were about 15 million vacant homes in the U.S. last year, according to John Burns Real Estate ConsultingInc.—some 3.1 million more than normal.

Such conditions might not last long. Moody's Analytics predicts that the number of distressed sales will begin to fall in 2013, and that prices will begin to edge upward then. Home building is at a virtual standstill, so the supply overhang isn't likely to get much worse. Meanwhile, demographic indicators such as "household formation"—the number of new households each year—are on the rise, and promise to take a bite out of the glut in coming years."

For the entire article, please click on the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576361522020024248.html

Best regards,

Fernando Branco, Realtor