Recent Time Magazine Article Analyzes Housing Market

“Ignore the Headlines” is what Time Magazine reporter Dan Kadlec is telling citizens. This article is only reiterating what Atlanta Real Estate Forum has been saying for months - that now is the best time to purchase a home. According to Kadlec, those that are emotionally ready to purchase a home should get serious quick before the inevitable rise in interest rates. While people are waiting for the market to hit its low point, Kadlec points out that we may have already reached it - you just never know. Waiting for the prices of houses to continue to drop may be useless because whatever you gain by a further drop in prices might be offset by rising financial costs. Let me explain with the example that Kadlec gave: consider a typical home that sells for $218,900. You would put 20% down and get a 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage at today’s rate of 5.5%. Monthly principal and interest come to $994.31. Let’s say that 12 months from now the same house goes for 10% less, $197,010. But by then the recession is history and the Fed is jacking up rates to stem inflation. If mortgage costs rise a point, to 6.5%, your monthly payment would be $994.94 and you’d have saved nothing. Meanwhile, home prices might steady and sellers might become less willing to negotiate, and you have spent a year living someplace you’d rather not be. So, what’s the point? Stop dawdling and take advantage of the buyer’s market while it still exists because putting it off another year will not save you any money! Time Magazine is telling you to carpe diem.