Source: Yahoo! Finance —
Buying your first home involves a certain amount of strategy. Trying to time your purchase based on the market’s ups and downs can sometimes feel like a game.
But over the last few months, that game has been far less fun for hopeful homebuyers, who may feel like they’re the ones being toyed with. And any joy left in it may soon be squashed, with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas recently predicting a potential 20% plunge for the housing market in the next year.
Americans wanting to get in on the action now have a decision on their hands. Is it better to wait until a possible market bottom? Or are these merely “predictions” that won’t come true, and it’s better to get in now before more potential rate hikes?
There are pros and cons to both options, but here’s what the experts say.
Waiting it out
While the Dallas Fed has stated housing could fall by 20%, experts there do admit this is a pessimistic scenario. In fact, Dallas Fed economist Enrique Martinez-Garcia says that ideally, the Federal Reserve will “carefully thread the needle of bringing inflation down without setting off a downward house-price spiral.”
This would certainly help Americans looking to get in on the housing market, but who fear another housing crash similar to the Great Recession. After all, the overnight lending rate could reach as high as 4.5% in December when the Fed meets again. Though it’s hoped to be less than past hikes.
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