Why is now a good time to invest in real estate in the US?

The Californian Association of Realtors recently announced that the downward trend is continuing also in January and February 2009 (the medium house price in Feb 2008 was $450K in Feb 2009 it came down to $320k). Washington (AP) reports that the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 major cities tumbled by a record 19 percent from January 2008. It was the largest decline since the index started in 2000. The 10-city index dropped 19.4 percent, also a new record. 

Jay Brinkmann, chief economist for the Mortgage Banker Association (MBA) says "The delinquency rates continue to climb across the board for prime fixed-rate and sub-prime fixed-rate loans - loans whose performance is driven by the loss of jobs or income rather than changes in payments. Five states - California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida and Michigan - once again dominated delinquency statistics during the 4th quarter 2008, but the number of loans 90 days late or more also increased significantly in New York, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia and Mississippi.

According to Brinkmann, the nation is in for many more months of problem delinquencies. Historically late payments follow a pattern that begins with the economy slowing, which leads to job losses and then to increased delinquencies. He does not project a pick up in the economy until the end of the year, followed by an increase in employment late in 2010 and improvement in delinquency rates some time after that.

Source: CNN Money.com