News about the current Real Estate and economic market tends to be pretty grim. Pick up any newspaper, turn on any news program, or surf the net and it only takes seconds to find all sorts of terrible reports about how bad things are. If there is a bright spot to be found it is a return to some level of affordability in housing.  According to a recent article on MSNBC.com “Nationwide home prices in July fell a record 5.3 percent compared with a year ago, a government agency said Tuesday, and have now receded to October 2005 levels.”

Obviously dropping home prices are not good news to everyone, especially sellers.  However for well qualified buyers who do not have a current home to sell low prices can mean an opportunity to get into a home that they could not previously afford.  For sellers, the upside is that if they are making a move they are likely to be able to find a good deal on the home they are buying, which helps ease the pain of potentially losing money on a sale.

Lower home prices are only a benefit to buyers if they are able to obtain a mortgage to buy a home.  Lending practices are continuing to tighten as more banks fail.  Rates are still relatively low, but they are creeping back up.  “The national average rate on a 30-year, fixed rate mortgage rose to 6.26 percent on Monday up from 6.11 percent on Friday as details of the government’s rescue plan remained in flux, according to financial publisher HSH Associates. The rate had fallen as low as 5.87 percent last Tuesday.”

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