When referring to the real estate market, what actually is the market and who or what determines how it’s doing from week to week? Basically it is all of us sellers and buyers and investors, we all determine what “the market” is doing. Lots of buyers and few sellers? Then people will pay more for the house. More sellers and fewer buyers? Then home prices decrease. It’s all about supply and demand.
One thing remains constant if you base it on historical data, and that is that real estate is an appreciating asset. We just saw an insane market over the last couple of years, where in some areas houses appreciated over 40% within a year, even less than a year. In most places, the appreciation was around 18-28%! That’s way more than the 8-10% growth in a “healthy” market.
It really is the best investment long-term because even if you buy at the top of the market price-wise, and you buy what you can afford, you will have lived in your investment, adding to your wealth over the years. Just make sure you have a great real estate agent.
