Current State of the Orange County Real Estate Market
Real Estate can be complicated, but it can also be a wonderful and rewarding experience. A great deal of it depends on the Agent you choose. It’s good to be sure both you and your agent are compatible, that you ask a lot of questions, stay involved, and you should hear from your agent on a regular basis. Whether or not you’re a seller or buyer, you should always know everything that is going on with your transaction.
Is this a good time to buy a Home? Will home prices continue to go down? Possibly, but they won't go down forever. At some point, the inflation that is already affecting many other segments of the economy will affect home prices as well. That doesn't mean it will be middle class American families that will be buying up all the homes. An increasing percentage of homes are being purchased by investors or by foreigners. There are a lot of really beautiful homes in the United States and wealthy people from all over the globe love to buy houses in America. Mortgage rates are near record lows right now and there are some great deals to be had in many parts of the country.
Zillow has also announced that the average price of a home here in the U.S. is about 8% lower than it was a year ago. U.S. home prices have now fallen a whopping 33% from where they were during the peak of the housing bubble.
If the “Oracle of Omaha”, Warren Buffet, is correct, then the residential real estate market will rebound in 2011. In his letter to Berkshire Hathaway stockholders, he said the demand curve will turn at that state, and the residential markets will start to improve.
The bottom line is that no one knows for sure. In any case, if you are buying a home to live in, now is a great time do it. If you’re buying a home to invest, more factors must be considered. Remember, right now both prices and interest rates are low.
Ken Kellogg