Why 2016 is great time to buy a home

Clark Howard | October 11th, 2018

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There’s been some nervousness in the real estate industry that housing prices could be be moving back into a bubble again, much like the mid-2000s.

Prices have moved up in many cities across the country, and now housing prices are at an all-time high. So the question are we in a bubble that’s about to burst?

Absolutely not.

If you go back to the last decade, before things fell off a cliff, people were buying homes with no money down, no money in them via irresponsible bank loans. Today people have enormous equity—which is how much the home is worth minus what remains on the mortgage balance. In fact, the average homeowner today has $150,000 in equity in their home.

So there may be a few spots in the country that are overheated—Denver for example–but most markets are still in good shape and mortgage rates fantastic. (See the hottest housing markets in America )

So even if you are a first-time homebuyer, don’t be afraid to go buy a home.