The market is in a very tricky place at the moment for buyers. They want to purchase that beautiful house or condo, but they also know that prices should start dropping within the next several months. So, the question many start asking themselves is “should I buy now, or should I wait until later?” It’s a tough question to answer, but it gets much easier if you change the question to why you want to buy in the first place.
Firstly, no one knows what will happen with prices in the marketplace; that’s part of the fun of it. They most likely won’t continue to increase as much as they have been the past year or two, and while a softening is predicted, again no one knows for certain that will happen. What is known is that real estate is always one of the safest and most secure investments you can make, whether you’re living in it yourself or are renting it to tenants. You will most definitely see value in the purchase, the question is just when that will be.
To better question to ask as to whether you should buy now or hold off until later, is why are you buying? Because if there’s a sense of urgency, it might make sense to improve your daily life and move into a new home – even if it does cost you a couple extra thousand dollars to do it. But if you can hold off, and there’s no expiry date on that down payment, than it might make sense to hold off a little while longer.
For instance, if you’re currently renting and your landlord decides to sell the place, it might be a good time to start looking for that home to call your own (on the condition of course that you’ve spent those rental years wisely saving up for a down payment.) If on the other hand, you’re an investor who wants to make the most bang for your buck, and you don’t need to put your money into something right this second, it definitely makes sense to hold off until prices start to come down a bit.
No one has a crystal ball. And no one can predict what’s going to happen with tomorrow’s housing market. We do know that we each have our own personal lives and personal situations. Deciding whether or not owning a home fits into yours, and whether or not that’s something you can afford, is something that you and you alone can decide.
