Is it the right time for you to buy a home?

Prices are rising, inventory is expanding, and interest rates are low. But just because the market say it’s smart to buy doesn’t mean it’s smart for you to buy.

After watching the housing bubble burst in 2007, leaving many homeowners underwater or in foreclosure, some people vowed they would never again own a home.

But here we are, six years later, and things have changed.

According to the Census Bureau, June sales of new homes reached the highest point in more than five years — and a 38 percent improvement from last year. After taking a serious nosedive between 2006 and 2009, prices nationally are back to the same levels they were at in mid-2003, well before the housing bubble burst.

That sounds promising, but is the market really improving? And more importantly — does that mean you should seize the opportunity and buy?

Three ways to assess the housing market

Scanning the headlines, you’ll probably see three important indicators of market health crop up again and again: home prices, inventory, and interest rates. Of course, analyzing and predicting the future of the housing market is a little more complicated than counting three numbers — in fact, it’s many people’s full-time jobs — but these three can give you a basic idea of what’s going on.

READ MORE: http://theweek.com/article/index/248131/is-it-the-right-time-for-you-to-buy-a-home

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