Personal Finance

The housing market and the economy as a whole continues to get worse, but the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has pointed out that in recent months there has been a tiny increase in activity with potential buyers and sellers in the market, which may differ from the rates. Has there been an increase of those who try to buy a home and the number of new properties on the market?

There are some very interesting numbers I want to share with you before I give you my answer on the question is 2009 the time to buy a house. First time home buyers were responsible for 11% of all home sales for the first half of 2009. The selling price of homes in certain areas rose last month. Real estate agents report that the number of people looking for a home to buy rose from 170 to 203. The number of sales per agent also rose from 8 to 9.

In a recent survey, over 60 industry analysts were asked if now was a good time to buy a house. 60% of those analysts believe that now is the time to buy a house. The main reason they give is that interest rates are very likely to stay low for the remainder of the year. Indeed, low interest rates are the single most important factor in determining the number of home sales. It is both low interest rates and low prices that will continue to pull more buyers into the market.

Of the analysts surveyed, 40% believe that it is too early to purchase a house because prices are likely to fall further. The main reason they give for home prices continuing to fall is that home prices are still high compared to wages. Also, the availability of credit continues to shrink. Some industry experts are predicting house prices to fall even in 2010. JP Morgan expects home prices to fall another 10% before reaching bottom. There is a very small percentage of analysts who think home prices will keep falling until 2014. All the analysts who think home prices will drop further site rising unemployment, a continuation of the credit crunch, and the negative consumer sentiment commonly caused by a recession.

Now that I have given you the data, I am going to give you my opinion. I do not think you should hurry to buy a house. The economy continues to be in a recession. Unemployment continues to rise. Banks continue to lower credit lines and make fewer home loans. Homeowners continue to go into default at an increasing rate as ARM loans mature. All of this means that the demand for homes will be very low for some time.

Another negative factor on the price of homes is perceived risk by market participants. Buying a house has always been a good investment until 2006. Now everything has changed. Houses are seen as more of a risky investment now. Even banks view homes in this way which is why they are giving out fewer and fewer loans. With this negative perception in the housing market, I believe that home prices will continue their downward trend for the rest of this year and that 2010 will reveal even better bargains than in 2009.

I hope you find this information helpful in deciding if you should buy a house. If you are a property owner in Fresno California and are in need of a property management company visit Fresno property management. If you are a renter looking for the best deals on apartments in Fresno, visit apartments for rent in Fresno CA