If mortgauge interest rates are as high as 7% and on avg house apprepriation is 7% . Is it worth buying home?

Answer 1

Yes, because you are building equity. And yes, because you will likely sell your house before you've paid it off, so you may potentially make money in the transaction.

Building equity is good because it gives you other buying power. But owning a house has costs as well - property tax, insurace, and likely higher utilities.

Answer 2

Respecting everyone's answer, whoever tells you that renting for now is better than owning.......does not not know what they are talking about and perhaps they may be renting as well and that is why they are telling you that is the best thing to do now. The Government itself subsidices property ownership so yes it is worth buying a home.

Perhaps this might be the best time for you to buy because we are in a buyer's market and the seller no longer call the shots. Buyers are on the driver's seat of the market and the seller are ridding shot-gun

Do not base your decision about buying now or later on simply the interest rate and the appreciation rate. You also have to look at your own finances whether you will be able to make the payments or no, how ready you are with your savings and your credit, etc, etc. There are many factors that you have to combine in this decision to buy a home.

Your feat might be coming from the many articles that you may have seen about the so called Real Estate bubble. Well here is anrticle I wrote back in November 2005 and it still plays in today's market. Enjoy the reading and you can find more in my blog.

Real Estate market bubble burst!!??

Well, we’ve heard so much from so many different “experts” but we ask how many print media columnists does it take to create a Real Estate market bubble? They really can’t but they can sure create fear on the consumer of a bursting housing bubble.

Most media are always looking for ways to increase circulation, which would equal to profits therefore any story suggesting a bursting bubble is going to attract readers. Not that they write this articles for the sole purpose of inducing fear on the consumer but don’t let media stories convince you that a bubble will burst or even worst become a self fulfilling prophecy.

Ultimately, the consumer is the one that dictates if there will be a bubble burst in the Real Estate market.

Three important facts that guide property values are:

Supply vs. Demand: If supply of housing is greater than the demand, housing values will drop. If the supply is less than the demand, housing values will rise.

Employment: This should be a no brainer. Solid and growing employment provides income for down payment and house payments.

Interest rates: This is very powerful driver in creating and sustaining property values. When the rates are reasonable, most people are willing to make important investments like purchasing a home. With lenders now offering easier loan programs to qualify, there are now many people able to purchase a home. Now, just because lenders have been offering “generous” programs should not encourage people to go out and obtain any type of loan available. Many loans are dangerous and don’t fit with everyone’s lifestyle and economic situation. Many loan agents have been quick to over qualify borrowers and what’s worst not explain completely the pros and cons of each loan program available.

Rates have been creeping up little by little over the past couple of months and are expected to continue to rise a bit more next year as well.

It could be possible the “bubble” will burst but not likely. The Real Estate market will most likely will slow its rapid ascent, level out and maybe dip a bit. But a big burst? I don’t think so.

Nobody can tell what exactly will happen in 2006 with the Real Estate market or the interest rates. What you can do is get informed and protect yourself against a busting of the bubble. You can sure minimize the damage if there was a burst by planning ahead. How well secured are you in your current job? Your income? Have much equity have tied up with loans? Does the equity you have now along with your savings withstand a dip in your home’s value during the time you anticipate to own it? Don’t stretch your finances by paying a high price for a home just because you’re stubborn and want to have that home.

Answer 3

Those numbers alone are not a basis for a decision unless the interest is not tax deductible and the house is going to sit empty until you sell it.

If you are buying a home for your own use you have to compare the decision to buy with the decision to rent, taking into account not just your monthly payments but also things such as:

+ maintenance costs
+ appreciation on the home (i.e. what the home will be worth when you sell it)
+ the tax savings from the mortgage interest
+ the possibility of rent increases
+ how much of your money (versus borrowed money) goes into the house
+ how much you could earn on your money if you invested the difference between your rent and the money you would put into the house (and whether you would actually do that)
+ whether you can do improvements that more than pay for themselves
+ costs to insure the property
+ real estate taxes
+ the freedom you have to modify the property to your liking
+ the certainty of your future costs (fixed mortgage payments don't change, rent might)

If you are buying the house as an investment you need to consider those things plus you need to consider the rent you can collect now and in the future on the home.

A lot of people treat buy versus rent as a "no brainer" but honestly if everybody did all the math there would be a lot fewer homeowners than there are today.

Answer 4

Yes its worth it. Couple of things to consider. If you rent your just paying someone elses mortgage at 7%.There is a huge tax advantage/write off if your making an income high enough to qualify for a home. Home ownership is leveraging your money. 10% down on a 200K house is 20K. If your house appreciates at 7% it will double in value in 10 years. If you put 20K into the stock market and it increases in value by 7% per year after 10 years you will only have $36,765 roughly and in the same ten years same appreciation your house would now be worth $400K giving you a net appreciation of $200K. See the benefit yet.

Answer 5

Absolutely, there is more to make than just the national average appreciation. Keep in mind you are building equity and your market may earn more than the average or below. More importantly you can right off all interest paid on your taxes. Make sure to consult with a CPA first to go over the pros and cons. Besides owning a home is part of the American dream. I hope this helps you but if you need any further help email me [e-mail].

Answer 6

It depends. What amount would you be financing? Say, for example, that your mortgage payment is $1200 per Month. If you could rent an apartment for $600, then you could invest the additional $600.
Don't forget that in the early years of a 30 year mortgage, you are paying mostly interest and building little equity.

The US housing market is overvalued right now and is due for a correction. So I wouldn't buy right now in any event.

Answer 7

If that were all there were to it, the answer would be a break even.

But that's not all there is to it. Assuming you live there, you're saving rent. If someone else is there, you should be receiving rent. Mortgage interest is usually deductible. Finally, there's the concept of leverage to deal with, which is what really makes the whole thing so lucrative. You might try reading this article

http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/posts/1138046215.shtml

You can lose your shirt at real estate if you're not on top of it. But you can also make unbelievable amounts of money.

Answer 8

Yes, it's worth, because you are going to build up equity in the property. that means if you buy a property for $100,000 at 7% mortgage, 30 years loan term, with 3% down payment ($3000). your loan it's going to be $97,000.
your payment will be 645.34 without taxes and insurance.
in the other hand appreciation is 7% per year if you live in the property for 6 years. the value of the property will be $140,255.
$43,255 is your equity. (your down payment was $3000)
If you want to sell your property, you could get 43,255 minus attorney's fee, taxes,survey,title,real estate fee. I could say around $25,000 to $30,000 plus you lived in the property for 6 years. if you rent you don't get nothing.

Answer 9

If you are paying more that 7% then you should consider refinancing. You can get a good quote to refi at http://berks.mortgagefactor.com

A more direct answer to your question:

Even if your appreciation is less than 7% and your mortgage is 7%, your house will continue to appreciate after you pay it off. So in a "long term" situation, investing in a house is usually very sound!

Answer 10

A simply answer is yes it worth it. You get a tax break on interest paid, so the effective interest rate is much lower depending on your tax bracket.