I have been saying for some time that there is no better time than now to buy a home in Overland Park or anywhere in the Kansas City area, and today’s news strongly supports this statement.

Nationally, pending home sales for November showed a 5.9% increase over 2010. When sales go up, so do the price of homes.

In addition to home sales being up, interest rates continue to be extremely low but they too went up this week to a national average of 3.95% for a 30 yr. mortgage.

While I can’t tell you how high interest rates or the price of homes will go in 2012, I do believe that this is a great time to invest in a home and that if you snooze, you may lose!

How long has it been since we heard that home sales in Overland Park are moving in the right direction?

Sounds like the wait may be over. Home sales and new home building picked up some steam in November and research shows that home prices in 95% of the U.S. metro areas will be going up in 2012. It’s about time!

Now the question is; should you jump in and buy a home or wait for prices to go down some more? 

Considering that interest rates on 30 yr. mortgage loans are below 4%, and housing prices don’t look like they are getting any lower; now is a great time to at least start looking before both rates and home prices go up in 2012.

Do the math and you may agree with me

Home              Down Pmt.     Mortgage 30yr.          Interest Rate              Monthly Pmt.

$250,000       20%                $200,000                   4.0%                           $955

If home prices go up just a mere 2% and interest rates rise to 5% you will be paying an additional $140 mo. and an additional $50,400 over the life of the loan. 

$255,000       20%                $204,000                   5.0%                           $1,095

To answer the question I will tell you that there may never be a better time to buy a home in Overland Park or anywhere in the Kansas City Metro area than today.