will prices go up?

DH and I were out looking at open houses like we do every weekend, and we were talking to one real estate agent who claims that home prices will slowly start to creep back up in a few months (before the summer). Do you think that this is true? I don't know if she was saying this to persuade us to make an offer (we liked the house), or if she was being genuine (it is hard to tell with some agents). I don't know if we should take the plunge now, or wait until June like we planned, because we will be able to save more money by then. This is sooo frustrating!

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I feel like you will probably get the best price in the winter if you love the house. Usually prices tend to go up a bit in the spring and summer b/c most people tend to look then. I would put in a low offer to the people and see from there, you can always set a closing date for June if that is what you want.

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I agree they will start going up a bit. Closing statistics from Nassau county have gone up from Nov to Dec already.

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unless she has a crystal ball there is no way for her to know what the market is going to do

I would buy when you feel ready and comfortable- not b/c of what some real estate agent says- remember they work on comission

for every one expert that says the market is going to come back up soon - there is one that says the opposite- there is no way of knowing and that's why you should buy when you are ready

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It's true that there's a seasonal fluctuation in the market - people tend to put more homes on the market in the spring and summer months and you may see a very slight increase in prices, but at the same time, take into consideration that you can NEVER predict what will happen with the market. Even if the price goes up a little, take into consideration that there will probably be more houses on the market - more choices. And who knows what will happen with interest rates. I agree with the other poster who said you should only buy when you're at a comfortable place to do so...

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don't feel rushed into anything, no one can know what the market is going to do. Yes, there are more people looking to move in the spring/summer - but that also means there are more houses on the market. You can't worry about all these little things, you have to do whats right for you, when its right.

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I feel like as the weather get's nicer prices will start going back up but you never know.

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It is usually a simple matter of supply and demand. Demand goes up slightly getting into the warmer months but right nowthe supply is huge. My prediction(I worked in RE for 5 yrs) is that prices will go up slightly nothing you couldn't negotiate down. JMO

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Houses usually go up a little bit in the spring/summer because more people go to open houses when the temperature is nice. Then they drop around November. This may not be the case now though, since there are SOOO many houses on the market and SOOO many houses that have been on the market for a while - these houses may hold or even drop (I just read an article that speculated the prices would continue to drop into 08)

Good luck! Only time will tell.

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I think the prices go up slightly in the spring/summer, but at the same time the real estate market is always going up and down.

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i think the prices always go down a bit in the winter, which makes it the best time to buy -..

usually in teh spring housing prices go up, more people are thinking about moving..

but IMO i do not think the housing prices will shoot up like last spring/summer, that bubble has burst.

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I think its true that they have flattened out. I don't think they'll go down much more. I have read in a number of articles that 2nd Qtr 08 is the point at which they will again began to rise, but at a very normal rate, not the double digit percentages that were occurring.

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Thanks ladies-- The same real estate agent called us today to ask if we wanted to make an official offer on the house that we looked at yesterday, after she told us that our sort-of offer was unrealistic. Why would she even consider putting in the offer if she thought it was not realistic? However, we decided that we would prefer to buy in a better school district, even if the house is soooo nice!

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Seasons do not dictate the value of homes. As someone else had mentioned above, price is a function of supply and demand. Over the last 6 summers, prices have gone up in every summer, with the exception of last summer, but it was not because of the weather. In prior years, when homes were more affordable, there was simply more demands for homes than there were homes available for sale. However, we are in a different market now. With the abundance of heavily appreciated homes up for sale, there is downward pressure on market. Case in point, on May of 2005 there were 17,000 listed for sale on MLSLI in Suffolk, Nassau, and Queens. Today, that number is almost 30,000. Keep in mind that a lot of the listing expired at the turn of the year. At the end of December the number was in the neighborhood of 36,000. That net decrease of 6,000 homes was not a result of closing sales.

Any Realtor who tells you that prices are expected to go up is just blowing smoke up the chimney. Remember her works for the seller, not you, and will say what he has to collect his commission. Clearly one can not predict when prices will gain momentum again and start to head back up, but one good indicator that everyone should follow is the supply of homes available for sale. Once you start to see that number go down significantly, as in 1000 homes less per month for six or seven consecutive months, you can "Bet the House" that prices will begin to climb once again.

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