Will we get any appreciation in the next few years?

Many of our clients are trying to time when to sell their house and move down or up. If Macromarkets with Robert Shiller of the Case-Shiller index are right, there will be very little appreciation in prices nationwide before 2015. Here's a link to their latest report.

I think that any real estate decisions you make should be based on what you need to do for your life and comfort. If you want to move "down" and sell your bigger family home to buy a smaller one, you may get less for your home now than at the peak of the market, but what you will move into will be less, too.  Conversely, if  you are moving up - you'll get less for your smaller home but pay less for your larger one. Make your housing decisions based on what works for you not on trying to "time the market".

If you are selling your home and getting out of the market altogether i.e. moving into a retirement home, waiting for the market to go back up is going to be a long wait. If you're 80 and want to move, do it! It's easier now than when you're 85 or 90. Prices for continuing care communities are down right now.

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