I like this type of post. Only because I receive the exact same sort of questions on a weekly basis. I used to own a restaurant a few years back and, just as frequntly, one of my employees would ask, "do you think we'll be busy today?" My reply was usually, "If I knew that I would would probably be sitting on my yacht sipping Champagne right now." The same goes for any market, whether homes or pork belly commodities. Nobody can predict the future.

The thing about real estate, for most people, is that you can enjoy your investment until the time comes to reap the rewards of appreciation. With some smart loan handling it can lead to a tidy sum.

Yes, now is a good time to buy if a buyer has been contemplating the idea over the past few months. If finances are in line and the only decision to be made is whether now is a good time or not, buy now. Don't look back. I still hear more stories from people in my area who regret not buying a home than I do of people who did - with a ratio of about 100 to 1.

Will - yes, that's the book definition of a buyers/sellers market. The point I was trying to make is that there are too many factors that go into a home buying/selling decision to paint it with a broad label of "buyers market". It simply isn't and can't be the best time for everyone to buy.

"I think you need to give consumers/homeowners a bit more credit for their basic knowledge of the market."

Didn't mean to imply anything about consumers knowledge. Consumers are generally *very* savvy and knowledgeable about the market. But we get questions on almost a daily basis that we simply can't answer. "Will this house go up in value?", "Has the market bottomed out?", "Are rates going to go up?" Things like that. We can give our OPINION, but many folks want facts/promises and we just can't do that. No one can.

I agree with your last paragraph, generally speaking. Now is a great time to buy for MANY people. But it is not a great time to buy for EVERY person.

Maybe this is a bit of an oversimplification, but isn't the definition of a buyers/sellers market the difference between the raw historical (6mo, 1yr, 3yr, etc..) ratio of homes sold (& for what amount) versus total active listings on the market, when compared with current statistics? Makes sense to me.

I think you need to give consumers/homeowners a bit more credit for their basic knowledge of the market. Everyone knows that the past 4-5 years have seen a tremendous rise in home values. But homeowners can also recognize when the market slows down, all they have to do is look in their own neighborhood: "well, Bill has had that for sale sign up for 3 months now but his neighbor Mike sold his home within 1 week not 2 years ago." It's probably a bad example, but you get the idea.

It's a buyers market. First time home buyers especially ought to be looking for houses right now, because when compared to the last few years there are much better deals to be had. Will prices continue to drop? Maybe, maybe not. But it is logical to assume that much of gains from the last few years have been speculator driven, dried up, and thus are not likely to continue on this unprecedented tear. The bottom may get a little lower, but the market overall is 20,000 leagues from the crest of the wave.

Sometimes it's not easy Norm!

Wow!! How do you ever convince a buyer that they should stop looking?

I like this type of post. Only because I receive the exact same sort of questions on a weekly basis. I used to own a restaurant a few years back and, just as frequntly, one of my employees would ask, "do you think we'll be busy today?" My reply was usually, "If I knew that I would would probably be sitting on my yacht sipping Champagne right now." The same goes for any market, whether homes or pork belly commodities. Nobody can predict the future.

The thing about real estate, for most people, is that you can enjoy your investment until the time comes to reap the rewards of appreciation. With some smart loan handling it can lead to a tidy sum.

Yes, now is a good time to buy if a buyer has been contemplating the idea over the past few months. If finances are in line and the only decision to be made is whether now is a good time or not, buy now. Don't look back. I still hear more stories from people in my area who regret not buying a home than I do of people who did - with a ratio of about 100 to 1.

Will - yes, that's the book definition of a buyers/sellers market. The point I was trying to make is that there are too many factors that go into a home buying/selling decision to paint it with a broad label of "buyers market". It simply isn't and can't be the best time for everyone to buy.

"I think you need to give consumers/homeowners a bit more credit for their basic knowledge of the market."

Didn't mean to imply anything about consumers knowledge. Consumers are generally *very* savvy and knowledgeable about the market. But we get questions on almost a daily basis that we simply can't answer. "Will this house go up in value?", "Has the market bottomed out?", "Are rates going to go up?" Things like that. We can give our OPINION, but many folks want facts/promises and we just can't do that. No one can.

I agree with your last paragraph, generally speaking. Now is a great time to buy for MANY people. But it is not a great time to buy for EVERY person.

Maybe this is a bit of an oversimplification, but isn't the definition of a buyers/sellers market the difference between the raw historical (6mo, 1yr, 3yr, etc..) ratio of homes sold (& for what amount) versus total active listings on the market, when compared with current statistics? Makes sense to me.

I think you need to give consumers/homeowners a bit more credit for their basic knowledge of the market. Everyone knows that the past 4-5 years have seen a tremendous rise in home values. But homeowners can also recognize when the market slows down, all they have to do is look in their own neighborhood: "well, Bill has had that for sale sign up for 3 months now but his neighbor Mike sold his home within 1 week not 2 years ago." It's probably a bad example, but you get the idea.

It's a buyers market. First time home buyers especially ought to be looking for houses right now, because when compared to the last few years there are much better deals to be had. Will prices continue to drop? Maybe, maybe not. But it is logical to assume that much of gains from the last few years have been speculator driven, dried up, and thus are not likely to continue on this unprecedented tear. The bottom may get a little lower, but the market overall is 20,000 leagues from the crest of the wave.

Sometimes it's not easy Norm!

Wow!! How do you ever convince a buyer that they should stop looking?