If you are waiting on home prices to go lower, you may have missed the boat.

May 27, 2009 · Print This Article

I was talking to a client of my mine the other day. She is a first time homebuyer and is in the market for a new home. One of the reasons she is looking now is due to the $8000 Federal First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. Another reason she is looking now is because of the lowest interest that we have seen in our lifetime. I have been working with this lady for some time. She was looking to purchase a home last fall. Based on some advice from her parents, and me she decided to wait until this spring. We all knew that home prices would decrease because of what was coming on the horizon with the economic news from last year. Fast-forward 7 months later, she is ready to get started but asked me a simple question, “Should I wait a little longer before I place an offer on a home?” She is trying to wait for home prices to decrease even more and possibly home mortgage rates to drop. Great question!

Are home prices getting lower?
Now may be the time to make that new home purchase. According to the National Association of Realtors, the national averages of home prices are down 15% compared to this time last year. However, in April existing home sales were up almost 3% compared to March 2008. So home prices are down but more people are looking to buy a home. I decided to do a little more research for her, I was curious to know what the numbers were for the Middle Tennessee area. According to Zillow, a leading online real estate portal, home prices in Nashville are down 6% compared to last year at this time. Here are a couple of other cities: Brentwood down under 4%, Antioch and Murfreesboro down below 6%, and Franklin is down 8% over last year (to learn more about your city go here: Zillow). Based on the data, it shows that home prices in Middle Tennessee are more stable than the rest of the country. It also shows that being that we are headed to the traditional buying season, prices may be headed upwards. Also, interest rates are slowly headed upwards compared to the all time lows from a few months ago.

What should I do?
Find that new home now! I heard an old sayings long ago, if you just heard about a good deal, you are probably too late. I wouldn’t wait until I hear more positive news about the real estate market to move forward. All arrows are pointing towards that way. If you wait until the Government to release the data showing that the economy is getting better (sometimes 45 to 60 days after the fact), it may be too late. She took my advice and now she is looking to close in the next 30 days.

Are you looking to buy a home? Start out by filling out a pre-qualification worksheet to get an idea of what you qualify for. If you prefer, call me at 615-543-6749. Now is a better time than any to make that investment.

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