Why now is still a good time to buy a home

After seeing the crazy housing market over the last 10 years, many would-be home buyers are hesitant to take the plunge. But right now, the greatest risk a potential buyer can take is waiting any longer to buy a home.

Everyone searching for a new place to call home wants to get the best deal possible. They want a great price and a low mortgage interest rate, because it's those two items combined that will determine the monthly cost their family will pay for their new home.

Home prices

Recently, the latest Case Shiller Pricing Index was released. The report shows that home prices in the U.S. went up by more then 10% over the last twelve months. Last month, the Home Price Expectation Survey was released predicting that home values would increase by at least an additional 3.5% for each of the next five years. Some analysts say it will be even more.

So, if you were waiting for the absolute lowest home prices, you already missed it.

And what about interest rates?

Freddie Mac’s Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey released last week shows the 30 year mortgage rate went up to 3.81% – that's the highest rate in over a year. This is an increase of a half percentage point since December. And the Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae and the National Association of Realtors all predict that interest rates will continue rise in 2013 into 2014.

So....

If you think it might be the right thing for you and your family to buy a home this year, buying sooner rather than later could lead to a substantial savings.