Financial advisers are all saying that
it makes perfect sense to buy a home now. Trustworthy and educated sources of
information like: Forbes Magazine (The Next Mortgage Crisis); Wall Street
Journal (It's time to buy that house); Market Watch.com (Now might be the best
time ever to buy a home) and JP Morgan Market Insights (Housing: a time to buy)
suggest that now is one of the best times ever in history to buy a home.
Home ownership is better than renting.
According to Zillow.com information provided, the median home price is
$121,700. With a 20% down payment at 4.12% mortgage rate, the monthly
installment is $470 per month. To rent the house could be $1,100 per month.
According to The Federal Reserve's recent "Operation Twist" the average 30-year
mortgage rate hit record lows down to 4.01%. The difference between a 4% rate
and a 5.5% rate on a home of $200,000 is $200 per month and can save a
homeowner about $60,000 on the entire loan for the loan period. Case Shiller
recently announced that real Estate values have returned to 2003 prices. In
2003 a 30 year mortgage stood at 5.88%. Today it stands at 4%. On a home
purchased for $250,000 the difference in monthly costs is: in 2003 an interest rate of 5.88% calculated a
monthly payment of $1,478.84 and today an interest rate of 4.00% calculates a
monthly payment of $1,193.54. You buy the home for the same price today, but
with the cost of $100,000 less.