Mixed Messages For Real Estate Buyers
It's a great time to buy," says the NAR. Conversely, says Nation Association of Realtors, existing home prices in February 2007 were down 1.3 percent when compared with a year earlier.
So can this really be a great time to buy if So with home values are falling is this a smart time to purchase a home? The answer is yes.
Increased real estate ownership is a national goal which has produced helpful and useful national policies. For instance, our government encourages home ownership by tilting the tax system to favor owners. Home owners can write off property taxes, deduct mortgage interest and when selling can shelter profits of up to $500,000 if married and $250,000 if single from federal taxes. 
NAR says it's a great time to buy or sell because interest rates are near historic lows, "prices overall have stabilized," there's a positive outlook according to the Federal Reserve Board.
"The national median price of homes purchased ten years ago has increased an impressive 88 percent. The number of US households is expected to increase 15 percent during the next decade, creating a continued high demand for housing," says NAR.
The points made by NAR are all true -- and each deserves to be examined with some care.
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Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, is quoted by NAR as saying that "most of the negatives in housing are probably behind us. The fourth quarter should be reasonably good, certainly better than the third quarter."
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To say that prices have "stabilized" is a good example of creative word-smithing. This is a cute expression, but irrelevant. The important issue to check real estate trends with local brokers because some communities are seeing price increases, some are seeing declines and what happens nationwide may not reflect local market activity.
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Interest rates are near historic lows and that means borrowers should grab fixed-rate loans rather than elastic ARMs, a form of financing where rates can rise and the advantage of low monthly costs can be lost.
