Consumer Info

It’s a Good Time to Buy!

Our current housing market has opportunities for homebuyers that did not exist for years. We believe now is a good time to buy! Here are the facts. You decide.

• Interest Rates are still near 40-year lows.
  • Have they been lower? Yes. Back in 2003, the annual average dropped to a surprising 5.83. However, rates in the last 3-4 decades have also stretched up to 18.45.
  • In the past 36 years, there have only been three other years when this rate was lower – back in 2003, 2004 and 2005 during the housing boom.
  • There are still many loan programs for deserving buyers.
  • Home prices are very competitive.
  • Right now, there are more homes for sale than buyers to buy them. It’s a buyer’s market. The result is that sellers are pricing their homes to compete and they are willing to bargain.

• Real estate is still a worthy long-term investment.
  • The 38-year annual appreciation rate for California real estate is 7.75 percent.
  • Compared to other parts of California, the Bay Area housing market is – and always has been – even more stable and dependable. Our local market has long been characterized by an increasing supply-demand imbalance: Silicon Valley continues to enjoy a booming economy while limited land and environmental concerns restricts development of housing.
  • The Bay Area is adding 50,800 jobs every year, growing at a rate of approximately 1.8 percent. It’s one of the wealthiest areas in the world. Of California’s top 10 counties with the highest incomes, six are in the Bay Area.
  • San Jose ranks third, and San Francisco ranks fourth among the top 10 best performing real estate markets in the nation, according to Forbes.

We are happy to offer buying tips and other resources to facilitate your home buying process. Choose from the resource menu list on the right.