The harsh effects of the US housing crunch and the excessive inventory of unsold homes, continues to exact a heavier toll on housing prices today. However, over the long term period, many still view housing as a good investment, and more than just an investment for that matter.

Aside from getting a home to call your own, you'd save a lot from renting one, as the costs of renting and owning are about equal, or almost equal. In addition, the tax benefits of home ownership greatly outweigh renting, too, and with dropping housing prices in a lot of areas, this may be one of the best times to buy a home.

Tampa Is Considered As One of The Best Places To Buy A Home

After you're convinced that now would be the best time to buy a home, the question next on your mind I guess would be, where do you buy one? It's important that you consider some basic economic fundamentals before buying a home.

You need to put into consideration questions like, is job growth stable in that area? Are incomes there keeping up with inflation? Is the crime rate greater than the national average? What about the average rate of foreclosures? According to a survey done by US magazine Entrepreneur, among the best places to buy homes area: Killeen, Round Rock and Austin in Texas; Mission Viejo, California; Palm Beach, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada.

The report also states that for those who don't like buying a home in Palm Beach, they could also try checking out Tampa or Clearwater in Florida, to find an inventory of homes being sold at great prices.

The Tampa Market Will Be Among Those To Quickly Recover From The Slump

Many view the adjustment in home values and the drop in prices to be part of the corrections being undertaken by the housing market. According to economists, market corrections follow three basic recovery patterns. One is a V-shaped recovery pattern, wherein a market experiences a sharp, quick decline but comes out strong once it hits bottom; a U-shaped recovery, wherein home prices gradually decline and recover slowly; and an L-shaped curve, a hard, heavy drop with a considerably small price bounceback following the market trough.

According to research from Moody's Economy.com, the city of Tampa, Florida, is a viable candidate for a V-shaped recovery. The city's local economy remains steady and thriving, and subprime lending exposure is relatively low. However, the city's main problem is that there's a high investor share that lead to high vacancy rates.

When the housing market turned murky in 2005, it was estimated that more than 25% of Tampa homes were owned as investment properties. Investors are much faster at fleeing during a downturn, which in turn creates a glut of available housing stock. In the case of Tampa, home vacancy rates here now stand at 3.5%.

Housing market analysts further note that most of the nations real estate markets are currently feeling the effects of overproduction. A strong housing market would hover near a 1.5% vacancy rate, however the national average at present stands at 2.8% and in cities such as Miami, Atlanta and Denver, the vacancy rates figure at 3.5%.

http://miami-realestate.net - Tampa Real Estate

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