The short answer? Probably. The long answer? Probably – but it depends. Let’s take a deeper look at the question and the potential answers for homebuyers and investors alike.

The real estate market has been unstable and uncertain for most of the past five years. Prices have continued to fall throughout most of the nation, and supply has far outstripped demand and kept already-depressed prices low. Furthermore, lending has been virtually absent, and the sheer number of foreclosures heading to the market in the near future has caused many real estate investors and homebuyers to think twice before pulling the trigger.

We will take a look at three distinct groups of potential buyers to see if now is the time to buy – or if one is better off waiting for a better opportunity.

Homebuyers Looking to Buy a Home

This is the largest group of real estate buyers by numbers, and traditionally has carried the vast majority of real estate activity. They look for homes they can afford in good neighborhoods with an emphasis on living over profitability. In other words, they are not particularly interested in whether or not the home will earn money in the long run, and care about the rise and fall of property values only to the point of wanting to avoid being severely underwater for an extended period of time.

For these buyers, now is definitely the time to buy. Interest rates are at an all-time low. Supply is through the roof and home prices are down across most of the country. In fact, some areas are starting to pick back up – which means buying now is as close to the bottom of the market as you can expect to get. Pick a good neighborhood next to good schools and good job opportunities and with the right amount of homework, you can find a quality home at a discount.

Investors Looking to Buy Property

This second group is probably the most active, due to the sheer amount of foreclosures and other distressed properties on the market today. In most cases, now is a great time to buy, for many of the same reasons as the above group. Interest rates are low, and so are home prices. But, for those looking to flip, uncertainty is still present to a degree that makes blindly pulling the trigger a mistake.

Investors who want to buy properties and hold them for mid to long-term profit, or want to operate them as rental units, are in a great position and can lock in significant discounts through foreclosures and other distressed properties. Now is probably the time to buy, although in some states, like Florida, California, Arizona, and Nevada, more foreclosures will result in lower prices for the short-term.

Investors Looking to Buy REITs

Real estate investment trusts, or REITs, form a third way to get into the real estate game. It’s not the same as buying property, but these securities are based on real property holdings, so there is an indirect correlation. Investors who do not want to actually purchase properties and/or manage them can instead “own” them by proxy and profit off of their underlying value.

REITs have been hot commodities lately, and while they have cooled off somewhat, they still offer a good way to diversify a portfolio and generate income. Plus, some REITs are dropping in value, especially after “Operation Twist”, so now could be a good time to find bargains.

In all three cases, now is a great time to buy for most buyers out there. Waiting a bit may result in better gains, though, so each potential buyer should do the legwork and look for specific details relevant to his or her geographic location.

Many homebuyers across the country are taking advantage of the incredible home prices and low mortgage rates. Everyone from first time homebuyers to investors alike is making home purchases during this prime purchasing time. However, your average Jane and Joe are not the only ones buying foreclosed properties and discounted homes—so is the Palin family.

According to local newspapers, rumor has it that Sarah Palin has purchased a luxury 8,000 square-foot home in Scottsdale for $1.6 million. Sarah’s new home has six bedrooms, five bathrooms, a six-car garage, and several other amenities. Originally, this property was a foreclosure, but was fixed up and put back on the market. Sarah will be the second of the Palin family to move to Arizona as her daughter Bristol already has an Arizona home in Maricopa. Bristol purchased her foreclosed property last year.

Although this Arizona relocation may be a political move for the Palin family, this entire situation goes to show that the market is prime for investment opportunities. This once foreclosed property was purchased, renovated, and put back on the market for $1.6 million. The scenario highlights that foreclosure property flipping can be profitable; however, this foreclosure flipping is not reserved only for those in the spotlight. 

If you are a future homebuyer or a real estate investor, foreclosure homes can provide excellent opportunities for obtaining a nice return on your investment. Property prices are at an all-time low and mortgage rates are incredibly competitive. If you have a dream of starting your real estate investment or expanding your existing investments, the time is now. Regardless of whether you are looking for a single-family home or a duplex to rent, the foreclosure inventory is booming with opportunity. 

The report says that nationwide repossessions and service of default notices to homeowners have dwindled by at least 15 percent from the previous quarter and 27 percent lower than the numbers posted in the same quarter of last year.

National figures recorded 681,153 foreclosures in the first quarter of this year with one out every 191 houses receiving a foreclosure suit. While March 2011 figures seem to indicate a 7 percent increase in foreclosure filings from the previous month, the same is still down 35 percent from March of last year.

Homes in foreclosure in the US in March of this year dropped to 239,795 housing units from 367,056 foreclosures in March 2010. Kentucky foreclosures were also down as first quarter figures posted a decrease of 16.9 percent from the preceding quarter and lower by 4.17 percent from the same quarter of 2010.

Kentucky also recorded one of the most lowest number of foreclosure filings in the US for the first quarter of 2011 with only one out of every 662 foreclosure filings.

But analysts say that the decline may only be artificial as banks from all over the country respond to mitigate the effects of the foreclosure paperwork mess that has marred the integrity of thousands of foreclosure filings in the country.

Many of the banks involved in the scandal went on a self-imposed suspension of their foreclosure activities following the investigation of government and state regulators into their mortgage foreclosure processes.

These foreclosure halts could be responsible for the decline of repossessions and foreclosure suits in the state and all over the country.

Meanwhile, prices of Louisville foreclosed homes slightly dropped by at least 0.8 percent last year. Although there are new house flipping properties being listed on the market, short sale properties seem to be getting a large share of the buyers’ attention.

In January 2011, residential foreclosure sales hit a bump as data show that both home prices and sales transactions slowed down compared to the preceding month.

But although the volume of house flipping properties seem to be experiencing a cutback, the Kentucky housing market is still expected to grow throughout the year as home sales pick up in the coming months.

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Those who currently flip foreclosed homes in Myrtle Beach are quite different from flippers of the pre-housing market crisis period. The flippers of today, according to housing industry observers, are not operating under loose lending rules and are often forced to pay in cash. The advantage that present day flippers have is that the prices of properties are way below levels during the real estate boom.

Home flippers who purchase foreclosed homes in South Carolina from auctions often do not have a lot of time to check out the insides of the properties. This, home flippers have said, makes the practice even more difficult because they need a lot of time to conduct the research, including identifying the properties that are most likely to fit their budget and offer the best profit possibilities and then comparing them with similar homes in the market to come up with the appropriate selling price, often without seeing the interior of the residential properties.

In addition, those who flip bank and Fannie Mae foreclosures today do not earn the same profits as those who flip properties prior to the housing meltdown. House flippers did admit that there are some profits to be had from home flipping today, although it requires careful pricing and study of the market. They also stated that flippers actually contribute to the housing market's recovery.

They argued that purchasing a foreclosed property for sale actually helps lower the amount of distressed homes in the area. If these properties are sold near market price levels, then the transactions benefit neighborhoods since they eliminate vacant and abandoned properties. On the other hand, those who price the properties too low are actually dragging the prices of residential properties down. House flippers have asserted that the benefit of flipping to them and to the market depends on pricing the homes just right.

Home flippers have admitted that they are aware that the supply of low-priced bank and Fannie Mae foreclosures will eventually fizzle out. They stated that the business of home flipping will not last long and they are taking advantage of the opportunities while there are still cheap foreclosures to be had.

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The decline in prices has been attributed by housing analysts to foreclosure homes in Minneapolis and distressed properties all over the state that continue to flood the region's housing market. In January, a total of 3,499 housing units were sold in the state, representing an increase of 11.1% compared with January 2010 when 3,148 home units were sold.

The highest increases in sales of non-foreclosed and foreclosure homes in Minnesota were recorded in the northern region of the state, with Detroit Lakes leading the charge and posting a 43.8% rise in housing units sold between January 2010 and January 2011. Iron Range, on the other hand, recorded a year-over-year sales increase of 39.3%, while Duluth home sales jumped by 35.5%. The Twin Cities also experienced higher sales, with the area posting a 10.8% increase.

Most of these markets were ideal for flipping foreclosed homes as selling and buying activities accelerate while prices continue to drop. The only local markets that posted sales declines during the period were St. Cloud and the southeastern region of Minnesota. The former posted a 10.9% drop from a year ago, while the latter recorded a sales decline of 3.3%. The strong sales numbers however, failed to pull prices up as median rate continued to decline statewide.

The median selling rate of homes in Minnesota in January was pegged at $130,970, down by 5.1% from a year ago when the median selling price was at $138,000. According to local realtors, the drop was largely due to majority of consumers preferring to buy a foreclosed home or short sales rather than regular dwellings. The price was also way off the market high of $210,000 recorded during the middle of 2006.

In terms of inventory, those who are flipping foreclosed homes will have fewer units to choose from in the coming months as January 2011 inventory declined by over 19% when compared with the same 2010 month. Analysts stated that this is good news for the state's housing industry as lower inventory of unsold houses will allow the market to keep a balance between supply and demand.

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Foreclosed homes in Pueblo and in most markets in Colorado are expected to be lower this year. At Pikes Peak, housing experts are expecting prices of houses to rise, foreclosure numbers to drop and home builders to step up house construction activities this year. However, they did qualify that any improvement this year will be hardly noticed as the market will be rising from a very low level.

Home foreclosures in Colorado will remain the main problem for the housing industry, along with the high unemployment rate. Economists stated that the market will not recover fully until more jobs are created. The region's unemployment rate was around 9.5% in November of 2010, the latest figure for the indicator available in the area. This rate is the highest ever recorded in the Pikes Peak region in the past 10 years.

For those involved in flipping property, not a lot of potential buyers can be had while the job market is on shaky ground. Economists stated that the recession that hit the area's employment in 2007 up to last year was even worse than the impact of the 2001 economic downturn. According to them, the recent job market setback took most of the manufacturing jobs which are hard to get back.

Properties from foreclosures are expected to decline to a little over 4,000 from a high of over 4,800. Permits for the construction of new houses are expected to increase by over 20%. This is still way below the average activity in home-building during normal periods, but it will help improve the condition of the real estate market.

All in all, investors who are flipping property can expect foreclosure numbers to be lower this year, although not by much. The problem, economists stated, is that there might not be enough potential buyers since the job market is expected to be much the same as last year, with almost 30,000 residents looking for a job in the region.

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Troubled homeowners facing the possibility of losing their homes to Fayetteville foreclosure listings and distressed property listings in some other parts of the state can get financial help from the state's Foreclosure Prevention Fund, a program supported by the Hardest Hit Fund initiative of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

According to state officials, some of the areas with the highest number of foreclosed homes in North Carolina include Clay, Burke, Yancey, Swain, Cherokee, Mitchell, McDowell, Graham and Rutherford. These areas are considered most vulnerable to further increases in foreclosures, particularly because their unemployment rates are estimated to be over 11%.

Officials from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency have estimated that around 21,000 unemployed homeowners can be prevented from losing their dwellings to foreclosures. They also stated that helping these troubled borrowers will prevent the number of homes falling under flipping houses lists and foreclosure lists from increasing further, which in turn can help stabilize values of homes in the state.

A foreclosure search in the region has shown that the number of distressed properties in the area has continued to rise, causing prices of homes to decline and the market to destabilize. Local officials are hoping that the initiative will help the unemployed in paying their monthly loan obligations until the time when they find another job.

The program is also designed to help those who have encountered financial difficulties that have been caused by circumstances beyond their control, like health problems, divorce and household emergencies. The program, officials have stated, is expected to run up to five years and will provide a zero-interest loan of as much as $24,000 good for two years of loan payments.

For counties with high unemployment rates and huge number of foreclosed properties under flipping houses lists, the financial aid will be a maximum of $36,000, enough to cover 36 months of loan payments. Borrowers can qualify if they have good loan payment histories prior to being unemployed.

People who are into buying Atlanta foreclosure homes can find a lot of choices in the area since the city and the whole state have some of the biggest supplies of foreclosed properties. This means, in consequence, that big number of homeowners have also lost their properties to foreclosures and are currently facing potential homelessness and financial distress.

With this in mind, the organizations behind the program have decided to offer a one-time monetary crisis assistance to owners of Georgia foreclosed homes and other people who are in grave financial situations. Under the effort, 900 households in various counties will be provided with as much as $3,000 of financial assistance.

Aside from households affected by foreclosures and increasing number of properties under flipping houses lists, families and individuals who are under critical situations caused by income loss and other forms of economic crises are also eligible for assistance under the program. According to the people behind the initiative, the emergency financial aid is not meant to cure the financial problems of households in the area, but it is there to provide some relief until families can get back on their feet.

For families whose properties are under lists of foreclosed homes, interrupted public utility services is quite common and the financial assistance can provide some help. The initiative is particularly targeted towards those who are facing foreclosures, eviction, problems with overdue utility fees and repossession demands.

The Georgia Fresh Start Program was the brainchild of the Department of Human Services and the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. It was launched in collaboration with the Salvation Army and the United Way of the Coastal Empire. The initiative is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment of Act of 2009.

The money offered under the program is paid directly to providers or vendors to reactivate interrupted utility services and stop evictions of renters or homeowners facing possible loss of properties to foreclosure flipping houses lists.

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Investors who buy and sell Dade foreclosed homes are currently waiting on what the outcome of the county commission's discussion would be. Currently, the debate is centered on the issue of who will be paid first in case of foreclosures. In late July, the commission has grated a hearing for an ordinance that takes the area one step further towards having a Voluntary Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program in place.

This hearing came after a report was presented to the commissioners regarding how the Property Assess Clean Energy (PACE) works. The county has since examined how the program will affect properties under Florida foreclosure listings and how it works in other areas, like New Mexico, Colorado and California.

The interest of those who are flipping properties in Miami-Dade was aroused by the ordinance proposed by Commissioner Katy Sorenson which would allow owners of commercial and residential properties in the area to make energy-efficient improvements in their properties with the help of a loan that would be repaid by an assessment attached to the owners' property taxes.

The program is expected to affect, not just property owners, but also those who are into buying properties for sale in the area. The ordinance also specified that the amount to be spent on the improvements should not be more than 10% of the property's just value as assessed by the property appraiser of the county.

However, the main point of contention with regards to the PACE financing program is the provision stating that, should a property get foreclosed, the energy efficiency-related debt would be paid first before the mortgage attached to the property. The provision has raised protests from officials of the Federal Housing Finance Authority.

The debate surrounding who will be paid first, the housing agency or PACE, is still ongoing in the area. While the issue remains unresolved, investors who are flipping properties in Miami-Dade would have to wait and see how the program can potentially impact their businesses.

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Fort Worth pre foreclosures remain hefty, which led analysts to declare that the remaining months of the year will still produce a host of foreclosed houses that will be posted for sale. In Denton, 561 houses were made available for next month's auction sales. The total represents a five percent rise compared with July, according to Foreclosure Listing Services Inc. in Addison.

The counties of Tarrant, Dallas and Collin all recorded declining foreclosure for sale numbers for the August sale. Taking the four counties' total produced a 17% drop for the Dallas-Fort Worth area in terms of foreclosure filings. However, the total number of Texas pre foreclosures remains high, which could mean further rise in foreclosure activities in the coming months.

For now, people interested in flipping homes will be provided with more varied choices as a total of 4,671 foreclosed properties are up for auction in August. The biggest contributor to this figure is Denton, which posted a 13% increase in foreclosures for the period January-August 2010 compared with the same eight-month period of 2009.

In total, the number of real estate foreclosures for sale among the four Dallas-Fort Worth counties for the first eight months of the year reflects a six percent rise compared with the same period a year ago. Data for August showed Denton being left behind by the counties of Tarrant, Dallas and Collin in terms of housing market improvement.

According to local market analysts, Denton is behind its neighbors in terms of growth. Neighbor counties, especially Collin, have experienced relative housing market improvements in the past three to four months, with more dwellings being constructed and more real estate activities, outside of foreclosure, happening in the area.

Denton performed better than other Dallas-Fort Worth counties in the past, but analysts claim that the foreclosure crisis is now starting to invade Denton. They declare that there was a delay in foreclosure postings in Denton, but national, regional and state numbers are now being reflected in the county's figures, creating a market that flipping homes investors will likely find profitable.

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