All the government has to do is print a boatload of money – and by that I mean several times more than anything they’ve done to date – and get it into the system…if they do that, inflation will take off.
This would solve some problems but create others…for one thing, the buying power of senior’s 401Ks would be greatly reduced…and you don’t want to piss seniors off.
The way I look at it is this: if you buy now, prices in most areas probably aren’t going to drop much more. They may not rise for 10 years, but they aren’t going to go down another 30-50% either.
Buying now allows you to lock into the current mortgage rate in case rates take off and also helps work you towards paying off your mortgage. What I think many forget to realize is that every year you rent pushes out the payoff date of your mortgage another year. True most don’t keep a house that long anyway, but some people do – especially with prop 13 in place.
It wasn’t but a year ago that pigs were saying better to put your money in the bank and draw 5% interest, that was the way to go. Well, with current interest rates on CDs etc that doesn’t look so hot anymore, does it?
You only get so much cash…put it where it makes you happiest. And for me, renting sucks.