When thinking of buying real estate, which market would you rather be in? A Buyer's market or a Seller's market? Not too difficult to figure is it?

When looking to buy a home in a seller's market, a home buyer may experience a shortage of available homes to look at, may have to compete with other buyers interested in the same home and may be in situations where there are multiple contract offers from home buyers interested in the same home resulting in bidding wars among buyers and higher sale prices. In a market such as that, buyer demand exceeds available home inventory, listing days on the market begin to drop and asking prices begin to increase. And there have been various real estate markets like this in the past 38 years when mortgage interest rates were no where near historic lows! Economics 101, supply and demand, at its finest!

The fact of the matter is that the real estate market began to change in earlty 2006. Listing inventory stayed on the market longer as there were fewer home buyers. Buyers became hesitant and were no longer anxious to meet home owner's asking prices or counter offers. Real estate values began to stabilize, and then started to drop. And they have continued to drop, creating an ideal opportunity and the perfect real estate market for all type of buyers.

I cannot remember a real estate market in the 38 plus years I am selling real estate where mortgage interest rates are at levels of creating new historic lows and real estate values have dropped as substantially as they have! Over the years I have been selling real estate, I have often been asked home buyers when looking to purchase, "what do you think this home will be worth 5 years from now" or "how much appreciation can I expect if I sell it in 5 years". Reasonable questions to be asked by a home buyer.

My answers were always the same. It depends. It depends are on the current market when you will be selling, it depends on the mortgage interest rates, it depends on the economy and the financial markets, it depends on the the job market, it depends on national events, it depends on local market conditions, it depends on what improvements you've made or didn't make to the home. It just depends on so many things!

However, back in 2006 and 2007 when I answered that question when asked, never did I think that the drop in real estate values would have been as severe as they have been, especially since high mortgage interest rates were not a factor and did not enter the scenario. Likewise, I could have never believed that my technolgy stock profile would drop as severe as it did after the stock boom in 2000. But it has.

Why is the current real estate market a buy now scenario for home buyers? Two important reasons: Mortgage Interest Rates and Favorable Home Prices!
* Mortgage Interest Rates: Take a look at the 5 Year History of Average Mortgage Interest Rates!

Mortgage interest rates are at or near 40 year historic levels! The questions is, how long can they stay at these levels? The funny thing is that we never never know when interest rates hit bottom, until they've gone up! Then it is too late! A change of just .05% in the mortgage interest rate increases the monthly mortgage payment by $82.88, or $994.56 per year on a mortgage of $275,000. That slight increase in the mortgage rate reduces the amount of the mortgage to be borrowed by approximately $15,000 in order to keep the same payment as the lower interest rate. More simply put, if a buyer did not want a higher mortgage payment, their price range or mortgage amount would need to drop by $15,000 or they would need to have add an additional $15,000 to the down payment.

Too Follow Shortly: Favorable Home Prices: So what has happened to real estate values in the same period?

Real estate sales activity is up in 2010 in Middlesex County, New Jersey, as compared to 2009. But what about average sale prices?

In what price range is there the most sales activity? Are sales transactions up in all towns in Middlesex County? READ More...

Comparative Market Analysis

Homeowners should stay in touch with the real estate market and continually be aware of the current value of their home, if for no other reason than making sure their homeowner's insurance reflects current market value. Homeowner's insurance is necessary to protect the real estate assets owned, and carrying the proper amount of fire insurance limits becomes very important. It is important to keep insurance limits as accurate as possible!

Simply worded, a Competitive Market Analysis is a real estate agent's opinion of market value of real estate as detailed by recent sales of similar properties. It is not a written real estate appraisal.

Knowing the current market value of your home is most important when thinking of selling, especially if the proceeds of the sale are needed to purchase another home. If a homeowner guesses wrong, they begin to look at homes or purchase another home in the wrong price range or find that the amount of equity is much less than anticipated as initially planned.

When planning to sell a home, obtaining a reliable and comprehensive "Market Analysis Report" is a very important consideration for homeowners. The key is obtaining a comprehensive report, not just a print out of closed sales.

A Market Analysis Report should contain much more than sold properties. While sold properties are the most reliable indicators of value, they represent events of the past. Real estate values vary from one time frame to another. Just because a home sold for a certain price three or six months ago does not mean that a similar home will sell for the same price today. It could sell for more, if the the real estate market is strong and values are rising, and it could sell for less, if the real estate market is weak and values are dropping.

It is the current real estate market which determines market values. A comprehensive analysis of market value should also include active listings, under contract sales and expired listings, those properties which did not sell during the marketing term. The analysis should include asking price history and days on market.

Real estate is local, whether the home is in Colonia or Iselin, New Jersey, in Middlesex County or in some other State. What is occuring in one section of the Country, State, County or Region may not be representative of what is occuring locally. Home sales and home values vary from one Town to another and from one Neighborhood to another.

When properly prepared and presented by a REALTOR for a Homeowner, a Market Analysis Report should provide a realistic and reliable estimate of the current value of their home.

Related Artice: Factors That DO NOT Affect the Value of Real Estate
What information is provided in a CMA?

A Realtor Website should be more than "just homes for sale"!

I have now added even more content for home owners, information which is vital to protecting, improving and maintaining one of the largest investments they have made, their home. It's all about being a more educated and a smarter homeowner.

The additional home ownership content is provided by the National Association of REALTORS, is designed by HouseLogic and is an inter-active website specifically targeted for current homeowners. This website offers information of value for homeowners. The content and consumer oriented design provides homeowners with the ability to view, read and print valuable real estate home ownership information on protecting, maintaining and improving their home. It provides the abilty to log on and create a personal account.

With a personal account, the consumer/homeowner can then obtain and receive more personalized information, and experience a more personalized involvement in the information they need or would like to have regarding home ownership, home repairs or home remodeling. Upon creating a personal account, articles can then be saved or printed.

Additional benefits include step by step instructions on how to complete many home improvement projects important to owners. A homeowner can then organize home projects, create to-do lists, set reminders, set goals and then measure the progress as they move forward in improving and repairing their home.

Begin helping yourself in protecting, maintaining, improving and enhancing your home. Help and assistance is now available online on a consumer oriented Website developed by REALTORS for Homeowners!

Visit my Website to begin obtaining vital home ownership information and to creat your personal account. There are numerous categories and lots of good reading on topics such as:

• Tax Credits for Home Owners(You may surprised at the amount of money you can get back when making improvements)
• IRS Home Buyers Tax Credit for Current Home Owners and First Time Buyers • Essential Home Maintenance
• Repair or Remodel
• Repair or Replace
• Things Homeowners May Not Know
• Homeowners Can Save Money, Go Green
• Important Information For Homeowners

And more articles will be added! Be sure to Bookmark www.DavidFialk.com for easy access to valuable home ownership information.

Sitting on the fence wondering if you should purchase a home?

Wondering if real estate values will drop futher?

Wondering if mortgage interest rates will drop further? Hoping to take advantage of the $8,000 First Time Buyer Tax Credit?

If the $8,000 First Time Buyer Credit is important , the time to act is quickly approaching. To qualify, a First Time Buyer must close on their purchase by November 30, 2009. Again, that is close title on the purchase, not be under contract to purchase. With the recent changes in mortgage processing, a time frame of two months to accomplish everything and close on a real estate purchase will be close.

Coincidently, August under contract sales were extremely robust. Coincidently, buyer activity, contract offers and sales have been very robust the last week of August and into this end of Summer Labor Day weekend. Apparently, many other First Time Buyers are realizing that the time to purchase is now!

As important, mortgage rates are very favorable, currently hovering around 5.25 %, based on the buyer's mortgage loan program. Opportunities to otain such favorable mortgage interest rate financing like this cannot last much longer. If real estate sales and mortgage applications increase, as they have been in the past 3 months, how much longer will it be before lenders increase the mortgage interest rate?

What about real estate values? Yes, they are much lower then they were in 2006. Too much attention is given to when they will hit bottom. The bottom will only be known when prices begin to increase. More attention needs to spent on affordability, and affordabilty is a combination of purchase price, interest rates and, yes, having the opportunity to receive the $8,000 First Time Buyer Credit.

If purchasing a home is in your plans, invest some time now and meet with a REALTOR in the area you would like to move to and meet with a Mortgage Representative to see what mortgage options are available to you and obtain a Mortgage Pre-Approval.

Interested in viewing real estate statistics in Iselin, New Jersey, Colonia, Edsion or any other town in Middlesex County? There's lots of information here.