Article: The Brighter Side Of Housing

A number of you are probably drawn to buying a holiday home in Florida now or in the new future because of the downturn in real estate prices in the U.S. and the current weak dollar. The question is, however, is now really a good time to buy? Or will be an even better time in six months, nine months, a year's time?

Today's Wall Street Journal writes that the current housing bust in the U.S. is helping many buy the kind of homes that they previously thought unaffordable. The same may well apply to you if you're thinking of buying a holiday home. However, prices in Florida and the U.S. are generally predicted to continue sliding - until a predicted levelling off in late 2009 - which puts some in a bit of a conundrum about the timing of a property purchase.

What's best for you really depends on your situation. I purchased a holiday home in December 2007 as my family and I had been considering it for a number of years, and finally decided to take the plunge. Bagging an absolute bargain, or buying for investment wasn't really relevant to us. Over the medium to long term, our property may well increase in value, which of course will be great. What's most important to us, however, is that we have a beautiful vacation place in Florida that we can enjoy at any time.

Remember too that currency values will also dictate how "cheap" your purchase will be. It's hard to predict the future pound value against the dollar, but some forecasters believe that the pound will weaken in the next six months to a year.

Article: The Brighter Side of Housing (Wall Street Journal, 24th April 2008)