Monday, September 12, 2011

Lowest Rates in 60 Years!

Remember this time, folks, because you won't see it again in your lifetime.  CHFA rates are at 3.625% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.  Compare that to when I bought my first home--my state-subsidized first-time homebuyers rate in 1982 was 17.75%!  Mortgage rates are the lowest they have been in 60 years.

If you add that to the fact that homes are down 5% in price, with vacation homes down 11% in price, this is a great time to buy.  Counterintuitively for many people, the period after a hurricane is an excellent time to buy property on the shoreline.  Just as with the spring after a bad winter, people often get spooked and decide that it's time to decamp for a condo or assisted living, and they are willing to be reasonable about their price.  If you add that to the discount that waterfront property often goes for in the fall, as well as the general rule that the best time to make an offer is between Halloween and Thanksgiving, everyone should be out scouting right now! 

Do you really trust the stock market more than the real estate market?