Sweety the prices ain't going doing. They are as low right as they can be... it's gotta be uphill from here.

Why do you think so? Are you a real estate agent?;) Actually, my husband has been watching the house market for quite some time and he's sooo confident there will be a slam soon. My only question is - where will it be? Probably nowhere around, or at least not in New York unfortunately:(.

I_love_USA, I'm not a real estate agent, but i'm in the business. I'm a mortgage broker. And knowing the state of the market, i just can't believe it can get worse than now. the market is stagnant, people's houses aren't appraising for enough, builders are discounting like crazy. We bought our home right at the peak, and then the market crashed...(damn it!). Thing HAVE been improving, so if i were you, i'd buy right now and not look back.

Elena_Ollick, maybe Florida market has already crashed and I doubt it crashed entirely. Things have been improving probably because they always improve during the summer time (that's when the school is over and parents have more time to make a move). I don't think the market crashed in NY. Not yet. Remember about 3 years ago there were plenty of "Interest Only" mortgages issued - these mortgages will convert to regular mortgages sometime this year (because they are "Interest Only" for the first 3 years) and that's when the fun will begin. When people's mortgage payments will double, and the value of the house will be lower, they'll realize they are overpaying. I've heard of some cases of this happening already, but this is just the beginning. So we'll be looking for a house during the summer and hopefully move into one sometime in October. At least that's what I plan, because I'll be on maternity then and it will be perfect time for me to make a move. But we'll see how it goes. The inventory is just GREAT!! Such a selection out there. Sorry you had to buy at a peak:(. How could you, if you're in the business?

I_love_USA, Sweety, you're totally off here. It's a bad slumping market all over ( granted can't speak for New York in particular). Secondly, interest Only mortgages don't come in 3 y IO, it's either 5 but mostly 10 or 15. Plus, Going off of IO payment doesn't double your mortgage payment. it usually saves only a couple hundred dollars depending on the size of the loan. So that doesn't worry me... But ARMS ARE a problem and will always be a problem, plus the Option Arm Loans, those WILL fuck the industry up ( excuse my french). those are the ones that WILL have the payment doubled and tripled. Well, buying in the summer like you said is not a good idea, winter/spring was a better time, so in any way it's better to wait till fal... Plus those who didn';t sell over the summer, will become EXPECIALLY desperate. As far as us buying at the peak, we had no choice. We were moving to Florida and we had to live somewhere and we didn't wanna settle for a cheap house or renting... Honestly, i can jugde by how lenders react to the market and rates have been steadily going up and up, so i dunno, it's not a good time right now, so i can't imagine it getting even worse...it just gotta get better :)

Elena_Ollick, I think you're right, I got mixed up with these mortgages (you can tell I'm not a pro). Now that I think about it, interest only mortgage isn't that scary. Your payment does go up, but it doesn't really double. The other mortgages I thought of, I don't really know what they're called, but I remember they were so popular a few years ago. Anyway, I think that if we'll buy in fall, we won't buy at the bottom, but we'll still buy at a better price than a year ago and in the long run, it won't really make much of a difference. But the reason I think now is not the worst time for the buyers, because interest rates are still not that high. I remember the times when they were 8% and higher. Noone was buying houses back then, so I think by the end of next year (if int.rate will increase at the rate it increases right now), there will be a catastrophe in the house market and lots of foreclosures. But ... I can't wait till then, I'm just tired of waiting, sick and tired of my apartment and the neighborhood, so I'll just target the purchase for this fall, winter the latest. Keeping my fingers crossed.