My New Blog

Most of us are asking, "When is real estate going to get back to normal?"  The real truth is that the times we used to think of as "normal" aren't coming back at all!

The conditions and financial practices that fueled the red-hot markets of 2003-2005 have disappeared, and that is not bad.  In the new normal, there won't be another artificial "frenzy," but a different sort of atmosphere in which home prices stabilize, sales pick up and housing regains its standing as a smart, positive purchase. 

We won't see any extreme, unrealistic rise in home values, but rather a slow, deliberate climb over time.  The combination of low interest rates, attractive prices, high affordability, motivated sellers and effective government incentives has already put housing on the track toward recovery.

Credit is tighter in the new normal, and that is also good.  Sound lending practices and a more conservative approach to mortgages, while stifling in the short term, are obviously more desirable over the long haul.  It sure is good to have lenders now interested in whether or not their loans will be paid back!  The upheaval in banking has made it harder to get a loan, but most would agree that easy money and lower lending standards helped create this mess in the first place.

Markets that experience the highest highs and lowest lows, like Florida has, always rebound the quickest.  For those who can now buy and hold, this spells pure potential.  In three to five years the return on a current investment will be amazing.  The opportunity is now at hand - the "new normal" is now!