Isn't that what I've always said? It's situational and based on your own scenario. I can concede that depending on where you are at, you should wait, but I don't agree that you should always wait based on predictions of a slowdown, especially when no one knows the magnitude.
This current slowdown, just talking prices in Irvine, is less than 5%. When I mentioned that number last year, no one would say how much the slowdown was so I said that if it was within that margin... or even less than the historical seasonal drops of 15% the last 5+ years, what would waiting do?
Think about it, for the last 6 years, seasonal drops have been around 5%, why wasn't anyone saying wait back then? To me, buying now is not so different from buying in the trough the year before or the year before. And I said, it was actually better to wait a few years ago when there was bigger dip but no one was making such a big deal of slowdown back then.
And based on actual members who posted, there are about the same number of people who may have saved money and who didn't really care and were happy with purchasing last year, now or in the near future because they just want to own.
What's the verdict now? Continue to wait for the lag of prices to volume? Wait for the painful event LL is forecasting? Wait for NY real estate? Wait for a bottom that no one wants to predict a percentage for?
Just take your finances into account, figure out how long you can stay in a home and live your life.