Here’s the quick-and-dirty home sales results for August.  These numbers relate only to existing Single Family Homes sold in Ada County.  The numbers shown are preliminary.  I’ll post the final numbers about the 10th or 11th of the month.

                                      Average Price      Median Price     Ttl Sold

This month (Aug’10)      $187,724           $159,900               400

Last month (Jul’10)        $195,595           $160,000               392

Last year (Aug’09)          $191,627           $169,900                511

Last 12 months               $185,543           $158,742                   

Are we at the bottom?  Should you wait longer before you buy?  For what?   Lower Prices? . . .Lower Rates? 

Case-Shiller says there’s a possibility prices (on a national average) could drop another 10%.  So, that would mean that, locally, the average price could go down to $168,500 – an additional drop of $18,800.

Now, where do you assume, in the long-run, that mortgage rates will go?  That’s right . . .Up!

Consider this:  A $200k loan at 5% for 30 years will cost you $186,510 in interest.  That same loan at 6% will cost you an additional $45,165 over the life of the loan.  Waiting too long, and passing up the current outrageously low mortgage rates could be the wrong strategy.

Even if prices do drop before they begin to recover, they will soon eclipse your purchase price on their way up to an ultimate rational market price.  You will have purchased your house at near market-bottom pricing for an historically low interest rate, and be positioned to capture every bit of appreciation as home values ultimately return.