It’s a Great Time to Buy! Our current housing market has opportunities for homebuyers that did not exist for years. We believe now is a good time to buy! Here are the facts, you decide:
- Interest Rates have fallen below 40-year lows
- Have they been lower? No, suprisingly the rates offered right now on conforming loans are posting some of the lowest rates ever recorded since Freddie Mac started their mortgage interest rate surveys back in the 1970's.
- Will rates go even lower? Maybe, the Federal Government has implemented a program that will focus on keeping interest rates low on conforming 30 year fixed loan programs, more specifically since the end of 2008 the Fed has been actively purchasing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS in order to revitalize the secondary mortgage market and artifically keep rates low.
- Over the past 36 years, there have only been three other years when interest rates were even as close as low as it is today – back in 2003, 2004 and 2005 during the housing boom - and today's rates are better as they are offered on 30 year fixed mortgages rather than riskier short-term fixed or adjustable rate mortgages.
- There are still many loan programs for deserving buyers - Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, CalHFA all offer loans up to $729,750 at phenomenal rates with little to nothing down (0% to 10%) - learn more about these loan programs
- Homeownership offers tax incentives
- Owning real estate and paying mortgage interest is still the best income tax deduction you can have
- First Time Homebuyer Tax Incentive – for a limited time qualifying buyers can receive a tax credit up to 10.0% of the sales price (maximum credit of $8,000).
- The repayment requirement of the tax credit has been repealed and extended through December 1, 2009!
- Home prices are very competitive
- Existing home sales in 2009 have started out with a bang, with Bay Area median home prices down around their 2001 levels housing inventory has increased 100% from this time last year and have returned to normal long-term ranges
- Home prices in many communities are down 25-40% over their 2005 peaks
- In some areas you might find a home selling for less than it sold 10-15 years ago!
- Right now, there are more homes for sale than buyers to buy them. It’s a Buyer’s Market. The result is that sellers are pricing their homes to compete and they are willing to bargain.
- And with the abundance of foreclosures on the market, banks are willing to negotiate in order to get these properties off their books - good deals are evrywhere!
- Real estate is still a worthy long-term investment
- The 38-year annual appreciation rate for California real estate is 7.75 percent.
- New housing starts in California are down 70% from their 2006 levels – less supply on the market will lead to faster home appreciation
- Compared to other parts of California, the Bay Area housing market is – and always has been – even more stable and dependable. Our local market has long been characterized by an increasing supply-demand imbalance: Silicon Valley continues to enjoy a booming economy while limited land and environmental concerns restricts the development of new housing tracts.
- The Bay Area is adding 50,800 jobs every year, growing at a rate of approximately 1.8 percent. It’s one of the wealthiest areas in the world. Of California’s top 10 counties with the highest incomes, six are in the Bay Area.
- San Jose ranks third, and San Francisco ranks fourth among the top 10 best performing real estate markets in the nation, according to Forbes.
Bottom-line: five to ten years from now, when the financial markets have rebounded and the current credit crisis is over, housing prices are sure to soar again - especially with the lowest interest rates in history - and we'll look into the rearview mirror and realize we missed the 'golden opportunity' to purchase a home.
