[ianb78]

It appears that unlike it's UK counterpart, the US housing Market well and truly crashed with falls of upto 60% from peak.

There is some evidence that prices are now bottoming out and that now is the time to snap up bargains

I've seen condos in Florida selling for $50,000 65% below peak price with good rental yields

Is now the time to buy?

Your views please

[okaycuckoo]

Case Shiller says prices still going down:

http://www.standarda...pidff--p-us----

Wait for 6 months of rises - and bring something to read, because you might get bored waiting. Or maybe you can already find the appropriate rises in particular regions, I dunno.

[okaycuckoo]

Calculated Risk is a balanced commentator on US house prices (since 2004?) - his latest is that a bottom may be in ... by early 2013. And no great pick-up after that:

http://www.calculate...es-fnc-and.html

[IP Newcomer]

ianb78, on 22 March 2012 - 11:15 AM, said:

It appears that unlike it's UK counterpart, the US housing Market well and truly crashed with falls of upto 60% from peak.

There is some evidence that prices are now bottoming out and that now is the time to snap up bargains

I've seen condos in Florida selling for $50,000 65% below peak price with good rental yields

Is now the time to buy?

Your views please

I've been looking at the US scene for years, and I'm thinking of going in. There are two things that concern me.

Firstly it is a far more regional market than here. There will be places that will come roaring back, but there will also be places that will remain subdued in nominal terms for decades whereas there could be a couple of places where the big rebounds have already happened.

Secondly managing a property in the UK is hard enough, doing so in a foreign country is harder still. Not only can't you visit but there are different laws and customs that we can underestimate. For example property taxes over in the US are often quite high and if they're not paid then your house is could be foreclosed fairly fast.

We also have to remember that we're betting on the dollar strengthening on the long term

Anyway this may not be the time (or it may be), but the market is looking very undervalued so unlike UK property I'm a cautious bull.

Here's a more bullish article from the Daily Reckoning:

http://dailyreckoning.com/buy-a-house/

[Aunt Sally]

ianb78, on 22 March 2012 - 11:15 AM, said:

It appears that unlike it's UK counterpart, the US housing Market well and truly crashed with falls of upto 60% from peak.

There is some evidence that prices are now bottoming out and that now is the time to snap up bargains

I've seen condos in Florida selling for $50,000 65% below peak price with good rental yields

Is now the time to buy?

Your views please

I'm wondering the same thing and have just posted on this...

I have a good Property Management contact in Florida if you do decide on that area. They also have good relationships with Realtors out there and may be able to point you in the right direction. Message me if you're interested.

[Spoony]

Not here it isn't.

http://www.bloomberg...since-1988.html
San Francisco Bay area home prices surged 32 percent last month, the biggest increase from a year earlier in at least 24 years, as fewer distressed and more higher-end properties sold, DataQuick said.
The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay area climbed to $442,750 last month from $335,500 in December 2011, according to the San Diego-based data provider. The median was the highest since August 2008, when it was $447,000, and the year-over-year gain was the largest in DataQuick records going back to 1988.
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“At least half that increase is due to a change in market mix, with sales shifting away from low-cost distress homes toward more mid-market and move-up homes,” DataQuick said today in a statement.
The number of homes sold for less than $500,000 decreased 13 percent from December 2011, while those that sold for more than $500,000 jumped 61 percent, DataQuick reported.
A total of 7,832 new and resale houses and condominiums sold in the region last month, up 4.5 percent from a year earlier, DataQuick said. A tight supply of homes on the market and “a fussy home-loan environment” restrained the number of properties sold, DataQuick said.


Crack up boom going on there. Meanwhile in states like Michigan and New York state there are much cheaper houses.