Report Rates Apartments as Best Investment Opportunity in 2009
Check out this report from last week, courtesy of Urban Land Institute's brain trust. If everyone's scrambling because of dropping home prices, it's probably time to buy.
I've also been reading more lately, comments from "experts" who say the market is going to drop again next year by 20%-30%. My problem with that is this: Those are the same experts who predicted in 2005 that prices would continue to rise steadily through 2010.
Take a look around you. In some Boston areas, home prices have dropped 40% in the past two years. That's the evidence that property is cheaper now than before. The big question is, do you think prices have dropped back to what you would consider "fair value" based on the economic conditions in your area? Are they at a place where a reasonable family on an average income (for your area) can afford a place to live? Or, have prices dropped below "fair value" in your estimation? These are the questions we should be using to decide whether or not to buy today. The "experts" forecasting…future guessing…crystal ball using…that's what got the country into this mess.
