The time to buy is "Now", survey shows

This is a great article I found on the Florida Realtors Association webpage that gives great details of a recent survey of 1,000 adults nationwide that believe the time is right to buy a home. Click here for a link to the article.

The reasons include: lower prices, higher inventory levels (=more choices) and historically low mortgage rates. The good news is starting to increase and locally we've been much busier in SW Florida. That tells us that buyers are realizing that the time is right.

You'll never perfectly time "the bottom" of the market, I believe that you are better off buying now with more choice and lower interest rates than down the road when you may not get the home you want and a higher interest rate will cancel out and monthly savings you made in waiting for the price to come down a few more thousand dollars.

Read on, and then search for your next home on http://www.jeffcody.net/...


Survey: Consumers more bullish on homeownership as spring arrives

ATLANTA – March 26, 2008 – Recognizing that the current market favors buyers, 77 percent of respondents in a MarketTools survey said that the time is right to buy a home – a 20 percent increase compared to a similar January survey. Beazer Homes, USA, Inc. commissioned the survey.

Three of four surveyed (74 percent) agreed that the availability of homes for sale combined with special incentives make this a true “buyer’s market,” and more appeared ready for action. Sixteen percent of survey respondents report that they plan to purchase a home as their primary residence within the next 12 months – a 45 percent increase over the January survey results – and 28 percent are currently saving for a downpayment.

Nearly three-quarters of experienced buyers surveyed – those who have purchased one or more homes – urge renters to buy a home as soon as they are financially able to do so. Sixty-two percent of experienced buyers agree that current mortgage interest rates make this a “favorable time to purchase” a home compared with 44 percent of potential first-time buyers.

“Favorable mortgages are another reason for prospective buyers to take a serious look at a home purchase this spring,” says Ian McCarthy, president and CEO of Beazer Homes. “Low interest rates combined with attractive pricing means you can get a lot more home for your money.”

What homebuyers want:

When it comes to purchasing their next home, seasoned buyers are looking for a better location (28 percent), a bigger home (25 percent) and more modern features (18 percent), according to the survey results. First-time home buyers rank the need for a bigger home (28 percent), investment potential (27 percent) and the desire for a better location (23 percent) as the primary motivations for their first home purchase.

The survey of 1,006 adults nationwide, between the ages of 25 to 72 with minimum household incomes of $40,000, was conducted by MarketTools on behalf of Beazer Homes, March 10-13, 2008. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 points for all adults.

© 2008 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Link: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n2-032608.cfm