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San Luis Obispo Real Estate - Rent vs. Buy?Saturday, June 24, 2006Katie Benner, a staff reporter at TheStreet.com, shares her insights on the old buy vs. rent conundrum considering today's real estate market. Some excerpts below.If you're not lucky enough to already be a homeowner, your housing options essentially boil down to buying or renting. But these days, that feels like a choice between boarding the Titanic or settling onto the Hindenburg. As the housing market begins to adjust to more normal growth, the rental market is adjusting, too, in the form of much higher rent. So what's a shelter-seeker to do? A recent report from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies shows that buying may still be the best choice. With interest rates rising and speculative demand cooling, the report says that the housing boom is under pressure, but prices will continue to climb as long as the economy keeps creating jobs and builders trim production to match slowing demand. As the housing market softens, real estate speculators are unloading properties to realize projected gains. This is adding more inventory to the marketplace that may take 12 to 18 months to burn through, and it should bring prices down in some areas. "If you look historically, it's always a good time to buy because homes pretty much always appreciate. Plus, it's more than an investment. It's the place where you live," says Brian Carey, an economist with Moody's Economy.com. "The question is, can you afford to buy?" Article: The Buy vs. Rent Conundrum TheStreet.com, Katie Benner Tags: San Luis Obispo Central Coast Real Estate |
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