subject: Is April The Perfect Real Estate Storm? [print this page] For those who have been looking for the right time to purchase a home, April may present the perfect real estate storm. In fact, waiting beyond the month of April may prove to be a costly mistake for those who are interested in buying a home in the near future.
Perhaps the biggest incentive for purchasing a home during the month of April is the fact that the Home Buyer Credit is set to expire soon. While the credit has been extended to the month of June, anyone who wishes to take advantage of the credit must have the purchase contracted by the end of April. Since most buyers take a few weeks to find the best home to suit their needs, it is a good idea to get the search started well before April 30.
Of course, many savvy homebuyers have been waiting for the housing market to bottom out. Unfortunately, there is no way of determining for certain whether or not a particular market has bottomed out. Yet, according to many experts, most of the local markets have bottomed out already. In fact, some are starting to show signs of recovery. Therefore, those who are waiting for housing prices to reach rock bottom will likely find the best deals during the month of April.
The final ingredient in this perfect storm is the low mortgage loan interest rates we are currently enjoying. Over the last several weeks, the interest rates on long-term mortgage loans have been less than 5%. In fact, interest rates have been hovering around the 5% rate for several months. Unfortunately for buyers, the Fed has recently stopped the mortgage backed securities that helped keep the rates so low. As a result, many experts predict that mortgage loan interest rates will likely increase to around 6% by the end of the year.
While no one should go out and purchase a home in April simply because of the Home Buyer Credit, the great prices and the low long-term mortgage loan interest rates, those who are considering buying a home in the near future and who have the financial means to make a purchase should certainly take a serious look at buying now. Waiting just a few months longer could literally result in paying tens of thousands more dollars for the very same home that could have been purchased for less in April - the month of the perfect real estate storm.
