Will housing prices drop after the tax credit expires? Should I wait until after then,

[closeupready]

just to make sure I'm not overpaying?

[Joanne98]

1. Yes

[Arctic Dave]

2. It may take about six months. You will have to wait until the seller realizes

the pool for buyers is just about evaporated.

[leftofcool]

6. Actually it won't evaporate on lower priced homes

Already, lower priced homes, those under 200K are starting to be in short supply.

[Arctic Dave]

8. 200k homes are about as rare as unicorns in most urban areas. Depends on were you're at I guess.

[virgogal]

12. They've been in zero supply in my town for years.

[itsrobert]

3. They probably will be extended again

is my guess.

[leftofcool]

4. Not a good idea

Housing prices are starting to increase a little and even if they drop a bit more, the interest rate may go up. Now is the best time to buy a home.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Buy now and take the credit and low interest rate.

[izzybeans]

7. Depends. But your monthly payment won't change too much.

Because the difference will be negligible in most cases. The big drop already occurred. We sold our home at 60% of its value from three years ago when it was first on the market and had an offer fall through.

The person who bought our home got one hell of deal and now has the money to replace all the windows in the home. not a bad deal for a home built in the 1800s.

If the market drops even further in the town we used to live in, then that town is doomed, big time.

[here_is_to_hope]

9. Just know that the credit is a real

hassle to claim. We bought in July, will not see the credit till this coming June, if we are lucky.
We filed without it and then will amend later because it would have delayed our entire return.

[napi21]

10. I'd suggest you buy now. Home prices always tend to go up as spring approaches.

The other thing is that you know the credit is real right now, everything else is speculation.

[taught_me_patience]

11. The last housing bust took almost seven years

This bust is 1000x greater. We are only in inning 3 or 4. Lot's of shadow inventory out there, so you can be patient.

[surrealAmerican]

13. There is no simple answer to that.

In some places, they will drop, in others they won't. You really need to investigate locally to get an idea of values in your area.

[Fresh_Start]

14. Do you have free housing right now?

If not, the calculation is way more complicated.

If you are paying 2K per month for rent, you are burning through 24K of your money without anything to show for it.