We’ve reached the hot part of summer and things are heating up all over. That includes the housing industry, where the last quarter seems to be showing some nice signs of recovery. Are they permanent or is this just a blip for the moment? It doesn’t matter; right now is still a good time to buy a new or existing home. Why? Here are 5 reasons.
1. Home prices are still relatively low. In June home prices started to inch up somewhat, about 2.2%, but they’re still much lower than they were 4 years ago. If the recovery is true, then home prices will continue going up, which means you won’t get as great a deal as you can now. Even if the recovery isn’t sustaining, banks have learned how to keep rates artificially higher.
2. Lots of homes available. We talked about that artificially high prices thing. That’s because banks don’t have to put all foreclosed homes on the market. However, that’s been less of an issue in Illinois than in other states, so there’s plenty of existing homes available.
3. There are some no down payment deals still around. On the one hand credit has tightened up, to the point where some banks are requiring as much as 20% to be put down on a home instead of 5% like in the past. On the other, there are deals by some banks, helped along by the state, where you could potentially get a new home with no money down, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program.
4. Mortgage rates are low, and could be even lower. In some areas, interest rates that were sitting at 4.87%, which is pretty low to begin with, have recently fallen as low as 4.65%. Everyone’s working hard on stimulating interest in buying homes, and interest rates won’t get much lower than this.
5. If you’re a first time home buyer, there are plenty of programs available to help you out. Illinois offers a lot of programs for first time home buyers such as the I-Loan Mortgage program and other state grants. Some of this money doesn’t have to be paid back under the proper conditions. You owe it to yourself to take some time to do a little bit of research; the time is now.
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Mitch writes on real estate, finance, and many other things. 
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