The media can greatly influence the mood of the nation. That’s why even people who have had good financial fortune in the last few years still feel the recession.
Time magazine published an article that makes the case for real estate being the investment to be in as the decade evolves.
Falling home prices plus the foreclosure backlog probably mean a flat-to-down market over the next couple of years. But beyond the current desolation, the outlook is exactly the opposite. In fact, three different trends are aligning that figure to produce a major home-price boom over the next 20 years.
Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2011/07/11/real-estate-the-buying-opportunity-of-a-lifetime/#ixzz1S7cwBhCj
It’s a pretty good article and makes a good case for why real estate represents a good investment in the medium term.
When I look at the North Scottsdale and Paradise Valley markets I see good buying opportunities for the medium term.
From the article
As a general rule, the worse the crash in a market, the longer the subsequent recovery can last, because there is nowhere to go but up.
This point applies well to our market because we are seen as the epicenter along with Las Vegas. House prices in all of Maricopa county were decimated during the downturn. Much more so than the Eastern Seaboard states for example.
I have seen homes that sold for $600,000 in 2006 recently sold for just over $300,000.
Our region was one of the first to explode and you do start to feel with prices at the levels there is nowhere to go but up. Even if the market in our area were to lose another 5% from here on a $300,000 home that would mean a $15,000 drop, which is relatively small as a part of the big picture which was a drop from $600,000.
If you look at the full picture in North Scottsdale and compare, house prices, rent levels, inventory in the market and risk of rising interest rates long term there is a very good case for buying property even if it’s not the absolute bottom of the market, because getting into timing the bottom can be risky in itself.