Lower Home Sales and Prices Predicted

A real estate industry trade group said recently it expects sales of existing homes to drop 4.6% this year to 6.2 million.  Two months ago, the group had predicted a 2.2% decline for the year.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is now forecasting sales of new homes to drop 18.2% to 860,000 compared with an earlier estimate of a 14.2% decline.

The NAR also predicts the median price of existing homes, which make up about 85% of the market, will fall in 2007 for the first time since the 1960s, when the group began keeping records.

The predicted decline comes after a 1% gain in home prices last year and an increase of more than 12% in 2005.  Next year, though, the NAR expected the market to rebound, and existing home prices are forecast to rise 1.7%.

What a lot of home buyers don't realize is… NOW is the best time in years to find a home.   When the real estate market is red hot and all these figures are reversed, it's not the best time to be buying real estate.   So if you've been putting off buying a new home because of all the negative news lately.. think again.  NOW is the time to start your search before the market turns around.