Brian

I'm not a Realtor who is going to always tell you to buy now, but if you're looking at the mortgage resets coming up in the next few years, I wouldn't touch a home until 2011-2012. All these foreclosures currently taking place from the subprime mortgages are just touching what we're going to see the next 3-4 years. Wait until the Option ARMs reset, that's when it's going to get ugly.

The Midwest hasn't been hit as hard, but it's still been hit. Look at the Case Shiller Home Price Index, Detroit is down 16.3% from last year, Chicago is down 9.4%, Minneapolis 13.9%, Cleveland 7.3%. It's not a great investment to put money in something that is depreciating.

Property values are still going to decline in most areas, ESPECIALLY the sun belt - CA, NV, AZ, where the bubble is really taking place. If it was the Sun Belt, I would vehemently tell you "NO!!!! Don't do it!!!!!". But the Midwest isn't where the true bubble is taking place, and there's even signs of progress. In June, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Cleveland all posted increases in the HPI. Detroit was only -0.08. The Midwest is looking like it's bottoming out - but with those mortgage resets coming, I wouldn't hop in right now because of one month showing progress in prices. - Fri Aug 29 2008, 22:32