I remember back in 2006 when getting an HD flat screen television was all the rage. Just a couple of years prior they were the items you went to Best Buy to look at on a Friday night after you had been out to eat with the family. Back then the LCD flat screens were a new concept and plasma was what everyone was talking about. You’d see these beautiful new televisions for $4,000 , 5,000, even $7,000.
Then came mass consumption and the prices began to fall like a rock from the sky. Our family bought our first HDTV in 2007 for $1,200. It was a 42” LCD not even 1080P but rather 720P. Today you can get that tv for $350 – $400.
We are a nation of consumers and smart consumers at that. We want to buy at the best possible price. Sure, we could’ve waited five years later and saved a lot of money, but I figure that we saved thousands from where the prices were just a couple of years prior and we got to enjoy many years of crystal clear television watching.
Much like the HDTV market is today with affordable prices, the interest rate market on home buying is even better! Depending on how old you are you may or may not remember 13%-18% on interest rates in the 1980’s! Ouch, could you imagine affording a home today with those rates? How about in the 1990’s when they were 7-10%?
The good news we are experiencing some of the best interest rates in the history of home buying. With rates between 3%-4% (Source: Bankrate.com), why would anyone wait to buy a home? If you are renting or even slightly thinking about buying a home, it doesn’t get much better than this. Trying to hit the lowest rate will always leave you wondering if you could’ve done better. Now is the time before rates go back up. Unlike the HDTV’s interest rate prices do go back up.
Here is some recent data take from Bankrate.com on the matter of interest rates.
“Interest rates rise faster than they fall,” says an economist……..”End of Fed buying mortgage-backed securities may drive up rates.”
If traffic lights were a signal for potential home buyers they’d be green from New York to California. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Lock in and enjoy your place in history!