Could You Get Priced Out of the Housing Market in 2013?

Source:  MSN Real Estate News
Article by Melinda Fulmer of MSN Real Estate

January Buying Advice: In some areas, the recovery is causing double-digit increases in housing prices, making it difficult for many people to afford to buy.

Some real-estate analysts are predicting that the nascent housing recovery could accelerate more quickly than expected in 2013, jacking up prices in some areas by double digits. Would an increase like that price you out of the market?

In this installment of Buying Advice, we'll look at the forecast for prices in the year ahead and examine how this outlook might affect your home search. We'll also check in with the latest housing data and get some advice on the best way to evaluate a condominium's association fees. (Bing: Homebuyer checklist)

Can you afford to wait?
The housing recovery seems almost too new to pose much of a threat to affordability. But in some areas, it's chugging along a lot faster than in others, as demand pushes up against a dwindling supply of homes for sale.

J.P. Morgan last month revised its U.S. housing forecast upward, predicting an overall gain of 3% to 4% in home prices for 2013. In some markets, however, the pace of gains has already been dramatic enough to strain the budgets of many first-time buyers before the spring selling season even begins.

Phoenix saw the biggest increase in year-over-year prices in October at 21.7%, according to S&P Case-Shiller data. Detroit, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Miami also posted big gains: 10%, 9.2%. 8.9% and 8.5%, respectively. With increases like that, price-sensitive buyers in these markets have cause to act quickly or risk being priced out.

Not so in many other markets: Prices in Case-Shiller's 20-city index were up 4.3% year-over-year in October, the last month for which data are available. Chicago and New York actually posted small price dips, and Boston and Cleveland saw gains of less than 2%. In those markets, buyers have less incentive to jump off the fence quickly.

• MSN Money: They'll pay you to move here

One perk that is expected to stick around and mitigate rising prices: low mortgage rates.

• How low are rates right now?

"I expect the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate to stay under 4% for most of the year," says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst with Bankrate.com. "It could trend slightly higher if economic improvement continues, but could move lower if the economy falters."

Given the increase in demand and prices, Trulia's Housing Barometer says the real-estate market was 51% back to "normal" in November. Indeed, the almost 6% rise in existing-home sales in November seemed to back up economists' rosy view of 2013. (More on that below.)

Of course, the wild card, J.P. Morgan analyst John Sim says, is the so-called shadow inventory of distressed homes, which CoreLogic pegs at 2.3 million units, a seven-month supply at the current sales pace. Just how quickly this huge supply of homes is sold, and what the homes sell for, will help determine how quickly home prices will rise in some large markets.

• Realtor.com: What kinds of homes are for sale right now?

And with an eye to costs, many economists are keeping their eye on the mortgage-interest tax deduction, which many lawmakers are longing to eliminate or cap to help stop leaks in the federal budget. Changes there could raise the cost of homeownership, which could depress values in some high-cost markets.

• On our blog, 'Listed': Housing saved from 'fiscal cliff'

The biggest factor shaping the housing market in 2013, however, is supply: How many sellers will be motivated to list their home, and how many builders will start new ones? If inventory increases, it will help ease the bidding wars and make it easier for buyers to land a home. 

How long can you afford to wait for the right home?

Link to complete article:  CLICK HERE