Depressed Real estate Market - is it good time to buy?

[zhuzhu]

I believe everyone knows that our economy is either already in, or going to be in a recession. It is evident by decreased housing prices even in a hot spot like San Diego. We are looking to purchase a house, and would like to gather your thoughts on whether if it is wise to buy within the next 1-3 months, or waiting another 6-12 months to see if the house pricing drops even more?

Any opinions/suggestions are welcome!!!!

Thanks~!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Well, right now is for sure a buyers'' market and prices may go down, but by how much, who knows. Have you started looking at houses yet? Possibly check out prices and be out on the look out for houses that sell and find comparables that have sold and see if prices continue to decline as additional houses sell.

My husband and I were looking at condos and houses and found many were listed at 15% less than other comparables, so we there are many current properties priced to our advantage.

But, SELLING our house is a whole other issue. Not a good time to do so, so we''re staying put for the time being.

 

[neatfreak]

If anyone could predict that they''d be making millions. There isn''t really a way to know for sure...but it certainly isn''t a bad time to buy a house IF you aren''t selling anything else to get into it. If you have to sell a house/condo in order to buy another one it isn''t the best time.

 

[CrookedRock]

Wait!!! It is only getting worse, I promise! We don''t own a house where we primairly live yet, but we are waiting, bc chances are we will find something fabulous and be able to buy it from the bank for $.50 on the dollar. Give it another at least 6 months. That''s not to say that you can''t get a good deal now, it''s just that they will be getting much better down the road!!

 

[Haven]

I certainly can''t predict the future, and I''m not sure anyone can give a reliable answer to your question. But if I were you I would at least start looking around and see what''s out there.

My FI and I have been looking for about five months, and the time has given us a lot of perspective because we''ve seen markets go down considerably since we started looking. We''re not trying to sell anything, so we''re in a great place to buy right now.

I was out looking at open houses today and I saw A LOT of buyers, which is something I haven''t seen for several months. I think it''s because we''re in Chicago and the weather is finally bearable. But, I will say that for several months it looked like there weren''t many buyers out there so we had a lot of homes to choose from and didn''t have to worry about taking our time to put in an offer, and over the last few weeks houses are going under contract more regularly again.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

If I had to make a guess I think it will get worse but I don''t think you should wait if you find a home that is right for you. Owning a home is the best feeling in the world.

 

[zhuzhu]

We have been looking a couple of months now. The houses that we liked are GONE usually in less tan one week, and a couple of them which we offered on had multiple offers and seller just took the highers offer (higher than the asking price!). It is really surprising to me that it is considered a "buyers'' market" given the high demand out here in SD for a house right now.

Our fear is that if we wait 6 more months, the desirable houses will be gone and all that''t left are the ones we don''t really want.

It is really a difficult situation to decide how to plan the timing!!!

 

[Molly1024]

I hope it will continue to be a buyer''s market through next winter- we''re hoping to buy a home when we relocate to southern California in the fall. For right now, I''m reading up on home buying & mortgages.

 

[luvmyhalo]

I live in SoCal and my feeling is that prices will either stay where they are or will continue to decline at least until the election. I''d just keep looking and if you find something you absolutely love, jump on it!

 

[surfgirl]

zhuzhu, living in SD and SoCal in general is quite pricey, as you already know! That said, as neatfreak and others have wisely said, there's no way to know what will happen further down the road. What is sure is that housing prices will maintain a certain level depending on where you're looking. For example, if you want to live in a beach community, I can tell you that while prices have indeed reduced, there is only so much beach community property and there will never be more housing than there already is in coastal communities, thus the demand isn't going to go away in a desirable area. In our area, we're starting to look at houses in the Cliffs area because they've come down a bit. For us, it's sort of a same/same situation because even though our home value might be down a bit from say, 3 years back, it's still up a huge amount so even if we sell and lose a bit, we're buying more for less, so we may be able to trade up to a better property and maintain a similar mortgage. If you dont currently own, it's a buyers market and great for first time buyers, IMO. I wouldn't necessarily wait X months before buying. Things go up and down and if you find a home you love right now, I'd go for it now. You'll still be buying in a market that's more affordable than a few years ago and you'll be a home owner...I'd start looking and if you see something you love, buy it...Good luck!

ETA: What areas are you looking in? As I said above, in a really desirable area, houses will always go quickly if they're priced to sell. In our area, I think our home would go quickly. Same for other beach communities, and Mission Hills, Hillcrest, etc.

 

[Hera]

I think it depends. I live in San Diego also and I don''t think it''s a good time right now if you plan on selling in the next couple of years. A lot of foreclosures are still coming on the market and fewer people are able to be qualify for them. Ideally, I think it would be a wise time to buy when the cost of the mortgage is right around the cost for you to rent it out. So if I were you, I would see what the difference is in the area you''re looking for. On the other hand, If you plan on staying in the house long term like at least five/ten years, then I don''t see why not.

 

[scarleta]

Good topic.I think waiting for a while is a good idea.We always wanted a warm place to go to in a winter.Somewhere not too far to travel so perhaps when the time is right we will look into it.Just have no idea where to look ? Arizona perhaps ? Any suggestions please and thanks..

 

[jellycat]

it is really hard to predict, but it seems all the analysts are saying that a recession is imminent. i think housing prices will continue to fall, and you should hold off for at least a few more months, but if you''re in a highly desirable area, the micro-housing market you have there may function a little differently than the national housing market. if you do see a house that you love, you may want to make an offer. after all, you will most likely be in that house for the long-term, right?

we are probably going to wait another year or 2 before we buy. my fi thinks prices will just continue to fall, especially if we do encounter a recession..

 

[zhuzhu]

Thanks for all the ideas. Since my fiance will be moving here permanently in June, it would be nice to have a house ready so we don''t have to move twice (he has heavy machinery to be moved here too). What I have observed from 2 month of house hunting is that at least in San Diego, there is a surplus of junk out there, but not enough nice homes for the eager buyers on the market.

Newer homes in nice neighborhood that''s not super high-end (high-end like Carmel Valley/Del Mar/ Lo Jolla) are scarce, these homes go FAST as plenty of San Diegans have been saved up for years waiting for buying opportunity like this.

Of course the rest of the country may be different, so who really knows what future holds?

 

[ChargerGrrl]

zhuzhu- we''ve been asking ourselves this question quite a bit lately! We''re not too far from you- North L.A county.

house prices here in the san fernando valley have been falling- we can get much more bang for our buck than we would''ve a year ago. and although it''s v. temping to jump on some of the "deals" we''ve seen and trade up our townhouse for a house, we''re gonna stay put until this fall/winter to see if they fall some more.

we''re really in no hurry, which gives us an advantage. sure, we''re not thrilled with having to deal with selling the townhouse (there''s 2 for sale in our complex), so we''re considering renting it out. our mortage on it is really reasonable, right in line with what we would charge for rent. what we may do first is re-fi to get that mortage down even further.

i think interest rates will come down a bit more...