Buy A Home Now -- It's The Best Time | North Salem Homes

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A new report from RealtyTrac sheds light on a rapid increase in the cost of owning home, which means that if you've been waiting to make a purchase, it might be best to make a move right now.
Before the collapse of the U.S. housing market in 2008, the conventional advice for a first-time homebuyer was to save up money for a down payment and purchase a home "as soon as you can squeak by." That changed during and after the housing crisis, as mortgage loan interest rates dropped and purchase prices in many parts of the country went down by over 50%.
 
But now the market is changing again. For one thing, long-term interest rates rose during the second half of 2013, although rates have pulled back a bit so far this year, and are still quite low on a historical basis. But the Federal Reserve will likely finish winding down its "QE3" bond purchases this year, which should put significant upward pressure on long-term rates, and home prices are continuing to rise.

According to RealtyTrac's housing affordability analysis released on Thursday, the estimated median monthly payment for a three-bedroom house purchased during the fourth quarter rose 21% from a year earlier. That estimated payment includes mortgage loan principal and interest, taxes, insurance and maintenance, less the estimated income tax benefit from deducting the mortgage interest from the borrower's taxable income.

RealtyTrac's analysis reflected an average 10% year-over-year rise in home prices for the 325 U.S. counties included in the study, along with "a 33 percent increase in the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage as reported by Freddie Mac in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey."



http://www.mainstreet.com/article/real-estate/buy-home-now-its-best-time?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

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