The news is all over the place about home ownership. Steve Harney of Keeping Current Matters puts together some thoughts about ownership and the Home Ownership Survey.
I am a Realtor so I know you expect me to say this but it is true, not only does Home Ownership continue to be the best investment (see the attached table from Macro Market Home Price Expectations Survey), this is also historically the best time to be a Home Buyer. Mortgage Rates are at an all time low and inventory is at an all time high. Last week I tweeted that we had a trifecta, John Paulson, Donald Trump and Barbara Cocoran all say "It's time to buy a house". John Paulson made millions off of betting against the housing bubble and he has been quoted as saying "Buy Now".
Indeed in the Wake Forest, NC and Raleigh, NC markets we are seeing a lot more activity in our markets and at all price points. Realtor.com says that their traffic is up 15% from this time last year when the market was driven by the tax credit.
Are we out of the woods yet? No we are not out of the woods yet but slowly the market is getting better, region by region. Smart money people are making their move now to invest in their future.