Prices Moving UP!

The problem with national housing news is that housing has always been a local market issue – never a “national” one.  Home sales in Georgia have very little to do with home sales in Arizona.  So when the chief economist for Zillow, Dr. Stan Humphries states on April 25th “For people who have been waiting to time their home purchases close to the market bottom, it’s time to start shopping” – is it really time? 

The answer depends on where you live.  For those of us dwelling in the valley, the time to buy “at bottom” passed in October of 2011.  Does that mean that it is a bad time to buy now?  Of course not – in fact with prices going up at the moment at around 3% per month it would be beyond wise to shop sooner rather than later!  Combine that with historically low interest rates and affordability is unlikely to be this good for years and years.  So buyers, if you can and wish to buy – do so immediately.  Supply is continuing to drop and prices are continuing their crawl out of the deepest and longest hole we have personally ever seen.  Sellers, this is the time you have waited so long for – the return of price appreciation.