Real Estate: Remember, it is Local

No matter what you hear on the news, or read in the newspapers, one thing real estate buyers and sellers have to remember is, "real estate is local."

What's happening to cause headlines across the country may not hold true in local markets. Some could be unaffected by news reports that say housing is continuing to slide, while other markets could have already bottomed out and be on the uptick.

It's almost impossible to know where housing truly bottoms out because there are so many diverse incentives that drove the national and global bubble.

Certainly national policies will impact local affordability, and affordability is what drives real estate, but anyone trying to time the real estate market and "get in at the bottom", whether buying or selling, is likely going to miss that bottom.

History has shown, bottoms are never evident until you look back 5 or 6 months to really realize where the bottom was. By that time, of course, you've mis-timed the market and missed the bottom.

The latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index is in, and it shows continued, steep declines in home values across the country, however, prices are up in some areas. Blanket federal regulations may do very little to fix or change what has become a highly localized real estate industry.