Sunny Skies: Weathering a House Hunt

Popular wisdom claims that the winter months are the least favorable times to purchase a home.

But just like the “un-winter-like” weather we’ve experienced this season, that old saw might be contradicted by the conditions of the current housing and financial markets.

According to Patch real estate blogger, , the housing market in our area shows “.” Coupled with pressure from the European financial markets that are helping to keep mortgage rates at historical lows, this may prove to be the right time in 2012 to make that buy.

This means that for those who can swing a mortgage, you may be able to buy more house for the same note – more bang for your buck.

House Hunt pulled some Middletown homes listed at a slightly higher than average asking price from Realtor.com to feature in this week’s gallery. Based upon your mortgage rate, you may find that you can afford a place that might have seemed out of reach just a few months ago.

Scan the pictures and check out the details of each listing in the captions below them. We’ve also included open house times, all scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 29.

According to our friends at WeatherBug, it will be fair and not-so-chilly this weekend (just hover your mouse over the weather outlook in the upper left of this page). No warnings of ice, snow, or a cloudy housing market to worry about, during this last winter weekend of January. Remember, strength (and spring) is just “.”

And on Thursday, we'll see what the groundhogs and woodchucks predict for the rest of the winter!