It is a GREAT time to buy a home...

Some factors contributing to this amazing time to buy...
1. The government is moving to push more legislation that helps homeowners stay in their home, even if they can't afford it.
2. Interest rates are lower than they've been almost ever!
3. Banks are forgiving some mortgage debt by reducing principle amounts.
4. There are FHA programs, requiring only 3.5% down, and some states even offer to loan this amount to you - making 100% financing available.
5. Even if you can't make your payment because you lost your job, or you just got into a loan that you can't afford - banks will go ahead and take whatever you owe and tack it onto the back of your loan so that you are delinquent anymore.

Oh, yeah, I guess there are some consequences to this... So, here are some extrapolation of what is happening.
1. By the government pushing legislation, the free market ability to find the real price of real estate is now lost - therefore, prices are substantially higher than they should be, because there is government involvement in what should be a free market.
2. Interest rates being lower should have the effect of causing prices due to higher demand since affordability is higher due to lower prices. The opposite is happening.
3. By the banks forgiving mortgage debt, this in turn is hurting the banks, which the banks are getting massive bailouts and being pushed to do this - see #1. By this happening, the real effect is that the taxpayers are picking up this tab. Moreover, the people who are getting this debt forgivin are going to have a large income tax burden that they must now pay - causing problem down the line.
4. As we have seen in the past, when you're upside down, there is no incentive to keep paying your mortgage. There is no incentive to keep the place nice. So, why is it that we still have a program that requires no money down? With prices continuing to fall, this will hurt anyone that does this 100% financing. Homeownership is not a right, it's a luxury, and if you can't afford it, you should own a home. Therefore, there are a lot of homeowners that shouldn't be in those homes and will eventually lose them to foreclosure.
5. Banks are forgiving debt, taking the delinquet amounts and putting them to the end of the loan, and doing whatever it takes to keep people in their home. Why? It's because they want to show more of a profit to get the government off their back, make it look as if foreclosures are coming to an end to spur buying, and to make their books look better... This will all come to light over the next 5-10 years.

It is a GREAT time to buy a home... If you want to lose tens - maybe hundreds - of thousands of dollars. What is happening now is putting off the depression for years, and we will be in a slow, if not no growth economy for some time. We will not be out of this until there is a real price found in real estate, banks begin lending again, and there is confidence in the system. With the manipulation and lying that is going on in the financial markets, this will cause a total loss of confidence, and I wouldn't be suprised if we saw an introduction to a whole new financial system. This will take years...