Do you think this is really a good time to buy a house?

[Fujiko]

Why or why not?

ETA: Thanks for all of the responses. Just to clarify, I meant in general, yet I love hearing all of your personal experiences.

Here's my take:
I'm worried that house prices are nowhere near as low as they are going to get, because there is just about no good news with the economy lately. I'm worried things will continue to spiral downward, because although they've stopped handing out mortgages like candy at a parade, now we've got to worry about all of the jobs that are being lost, and the repercussions of that loss of income and spending power, etc etc...
I don't really know much about economics This is just kind of a personal theory. FTR, my husband and I are looking to buy anyway.

[annethcz]

I don't think the market has bottomed out again- I think that prices will continue to drop for the forseeable future.

[mightymoo]

I think its a reasonably decent time to buy a house, the market is finding a new equilibrium - I don't think it will fall much further from where it is now, but its not going up anytime soon either. For a while in our area nothing was selling, literally nothing, now sales have picked up, prices are down, part of the reason prices continue to drop now is the ratio of buyers to sellers, buyers are in the power seat. If you are trying to time the market perfectly, probably still have some time to wait, however, I think the market has done a lot of correction and buying now won't result in the losses those that bought a few years ago are seeing, but I would expect the value to go down a bit before it went up. I definitely wouldn't buy now unless I was sure I was staying a good long while.

[lolar2]

I think if YOU can find a house that YOU like at a price YOU can comfortably afford, it's a good time for YOU to buy a house.

The exception would be if you have any reason to think you might need to move in the next couple of years, for work or such.

[chinaKat]

I *wish* I was buying now. Prices have dropped considerably, and it's a total buyer's market. Interest rates are low. There are so many homes on the market, you'd have the luxury of picking and choosing, and setting the terms in many situations.

There's never a *perfect* time to buy a house... maybe you can pick a perfect time in hindsight, but there's just never any way to tell at the time. Maybe prices will drop, but maybe interest rates will go up. Who knows for sure what the future has in store.

IMO, if this isn't the perfect time, it's a pretty darn GOOD time for somebody with a down payment and good credit to buy a house.

[newbymom05]

I think the days of seeing a house as an investment are gone, at least in most areas for the foreseeable future. If you like a house you can afford, buy it, but I wouldn't see it as some sort of investment vehicle. It's a roof over your head.

IME it's more expensive to own than to rent. Luckily we owned and sold when the market was appreciating. Now we own again in a depreciating market. If I were in the market now, I think I'd rent for the peace of mind (not having to worry about maintenance and upkeep) and the savings.

[4kidlets4me]

Originally Posted by lolar2

I think if YOU can find a house that YOU like at a price YOU can comfortably afford, it's a good time for YOU to buy a house.

The exception would be if you have any reason to think you might need to move in the next couple of years, for work or such.

I completely agree with this. Only you know if it's a good time for You!!

[Sharlla]

Well I'm trying to get DP to buy one. I found a 3 bed, 1.5 bath, 1860 sq ft home built in 1962 for $39,000. It appears that any thing that needs to be done to the home is strictly cosmetic. According to Zillow the value of the house is 98,000. It's in a great neighborhood and a good sized lot too. I'm thinking that the house is a foreclosure or something at that price.

[Logan's Mom]

My financial advisor thinks its a great time to buy with the interest rates so low. I don't see anything I want. I think I'm too picky. My thoughts are that the only house that are on the market are there because they HAVE to move. So, I think there are better homes that people are hanging onto because they can....don't know for sure but that is my take.

[Thalia]

I think it's a great time to buy if:

1. you are currently renting and don't have to sell your current home
2. you can find a house you love
3. you've got good credit and a good downpayment
4. you're planning on staying awhile and see it as a home rather than an investment

I know people who want to buy, but can't sell their current home because the market is so lousy or they'd be upside-down on the loan. As pp mentioned, in some places, people are taking their homes off the market unless they absolutely must sell, so although there is a surplus, it's not always as much as you might think. Plus, some of the people who must sell are ending up in foreclosure, or as a short sale, and those are not easy transactions for buyers.

If you don't have good credit or a down payment, it can be hard to get financing. And as pp mentioned, the market may not yet have bottomed out, so if you are planning on moving again soon, you might lose money if you buy now and have to sell again in a few years.

Fortunately, we met all of the conditions above and just closed on a house today. We bought at a price that is 70% of what the home was appraised for just two years ago. We love the house and are planning on staying in it forever. So for us, yes, it was a great time to buy.

[RoadWorkAhead]

Originally Posted by newbymom05

IME it's more expensive to own than to rent. Luckily we owned and sold when the market was appreciating. Now we own again in a depreciating market. If I were in the market now, I think I'd rent for the peace of mind (not having to worry about maintenance and upkeep) and the savings.

That one seems to be very dependent on the area. I pay just at 600$ a month including taxes and insurance (including extra amounts and flood), and maintenance costs have been fairly minimal...the roof will need replacing in 5-10 years but that is it and is a DIY doable job. I couldn't rent a 1 bedroom apt for that amount around here because this is a college town, so rentals tend to go higher...And this affords me the opportunity to plant a garden for vegetables, stay home more since we're not awfully cramped, and not have neighbors complaining when DD cries about her tubey.

To the OP: I think its a decent time to buy....Maybe it gets better, sweeter...maybe not. I'd buy if I was going to stay put for several years and I felt our income was stable.

[turtlewomyn]

I think if you have money and can afford it now is the time to buy.

I think certain areas have hit bottom. We did a short sale in South Florida in November. Our house sold for 140k. If we would have tried to sell it at the peak of the market it would have gone for over 300k, maybe even 340k based on what our neighbors sold theirs for.

I have In-laws that have an investment property in foreclosure in SW Florida. They bought it for 400k, this was a place with granite countertops and the works. They have had offers of around 180 to 190k but the bank won't return phone calls to accept them. Other In-laws in that area are also trying to buy their first home... they have put in offers on three different homes in foreclosure or short sale and can't get an answer from the banks.

[Denvergirlie]

As a general rule across the US, I feel that prices still have a ways to fall.

Some areas might be at the bottom, but it's all about supply and demand, basic economics at this time.

A lot will depend on the local market.

As for us, we are waiting. We are not really certain that this is the best time for us to make a multi-year commitment to anything. Perhaps we might have a change of heart in 6 months, but at this time we are really happy with being renters and knowing that we could relocate with minimal fuss.

[Sonnenwende]

I'd be a little skittish about buying in this environment. The odds of being laid off or having to move elsewhere for work are too great.

[soccermama]

I think it's a great time to buy if you're a first time buyer and if you're renting an apt or house and do not need to sell a house. We tried selling our house two years ago - right when things started to get bad and it was on the market for 7 months. Not good. We're going to attempt to put it back on the market this May and see what happens. We've done some improvements and need to do a little more to clean it up a bit. This time we are going to be a lot more flexible with offers and price it accordingly. In the end, we may have to 'dump' it, but that's the sign of the times. We NEED a bigger house - we're busting at the seams right now.

[whiddle]

We just closed on our first home in July. We bought a foreclosure (not so bad because the lady who owned it passed away) and paid 1/2 of what MIL did 1 year prior for the same place 2 streets over. We paid cash so it was a great time for us to buy. We are currently looking to buy another small home in NC.

[freespirited]

I would buy now, but instead we tried to sell last year to no avail and decided to stay in our present home for a long while. Interest rates are low, but credit is not really flowing yet, but Obama is going to kick some rear end to get the banks to do so since it is taxpayers money they are supposed to lend!: Also, the 8k tax credit for anyone buying for first time in three years is great because, iirc, it is refundable even if you don't owe taxes. You could then use the money to pay down your mortgage some.

Prices might have lower to fall but the government is going to try very hard to prevent that. Foreclosure freezes are coming so people will have to start buying regular houses or wait, and if they wait, they might get higher interest rates and also whatever they end up paying in rent.

A home is an investment but we are getting back to when you'd have to live in one for 5 years or so to see a return start accruing. I wish it had always stayed that way. I think people would have given more thought to where they wanted to settle down too. We don't like our neighborhood and we intended to sell after 3 years but here we are, learning to bloom where this economy has planted us.

[FoxintheSnow]

It heavily depends where you live. (not just state, but city, part of town etc) Where we are buying (closing tomorrow!) the prices are starting to stabilize. Homes that aren't selling are just being taken off the market for the most part, but most homes are selling pretty well (unless they are in really bad condition). A friend of mine lives on the other side of town and prices are still dropping pretty rapidly. Interest rates are sooo low right now. We locked in at 5%.

[eccomama]

it's a great time to buy

in our area homes have gone down but it's still expensive and honestly i am not sure how much more down they will go. i'm in san francisco area and i despite the layoffs there are ceratin industries that are still going strong.
if my credit was better, if i had a down payment and if i made more money i would buy a condo in a heartbeat!

[Coconut Chronicles]

Originally Posted by Thalia

I think it's a great time to buy if:

1. you are currently renting and don't have to sell your current home
2. you can find a house you love
3. you've got good credit and a good downpayment
4. you're planning on staying awhile and see it as a home rather than an investment

I agree completely with this...

Originally Posted by whiddle

We just closed on our first home in July. We bought a foreclosure (not so bad because the lady who owned it passed away) and paid 1/2 of what MIL did 1 year prior for the same place 2 streets over. We paid cash so it was a great time for us to buy. We are currently looking to buy another small home in NC.

This is exactly what we did... ours was also a foreclosure in an awesome neighborhood and we paid less than half of what it's truly worth. We also paid cash so no mortgage. We're also looking for other investment properties.