I was listening to the Today Show this morning as I was getting ready for work and one of their guest ecconomic experts was speaking about the housing market. In particular he was mentioning recent reports on the fact that home sales have dropped yet again and the question of whether we are in for a double dip recession in the housing market. I found his thoughts interesting and tend to agree.
He feels that that we don’t have a slump in the housing market so much an employment problem. If we fix unemployment the housing market will take care of itself. When that happens we will see many people who will regret not having purchased a home now when prices and interest rates are low. In other words when the job market improves, home prices will rise and it will be too late to take advantage of some of the deals that are available currently.
To further add to this picture is the fact that all real estate is local and while our market is slow at the moment there are some factors that keep our local ecconomy moving. We have an influx of new jobs and also new people coming into the area due to the expansion of NGIC and DIA. In addition the presence of the University of Virginia and the University Medical Center provide a stabilizing influence on the local ecconomy and a lot of jobs.
In other words, if you have a good job and need a new home, this could be the best time to buy.
