As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, this is actually a very good market for first-time and trade-up homebuyers because interest rates and prices are low. According to the National Association of Realtors^® (NAR), there were 4.9 million homes sold in the U.S. in 2008, and the projection for 2009 sees that number growing by 6.6% to 5.2 million.

Furthermore, all the doom-and-gloom news about declining property values fails to mention how much more homes are still worth today than they were 10 or 15 years ago in most markets.

In fact, a seldom-mentioned statistic is that the decline in stock portfolios and home prices in 2008 only wiped out the gains in household net worth from the previous THREE years, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Listening to the news, you’d think we were back down to 1930s levels!

Over the long term, real estate is always a sound investment. The only people losing money in real estate (and in the stock market, for that matter) are those who bought at the height of the market and have to sell at a loss. Real estate moves in cycles, and prices will eventually rebound.

In fact, for anyone considering trading up to a more expensive home, this is the time to do it.

Here’s why: If the market goes up 10% and you have a $300,000 home, your home’s value will only go up by $30,000.  On the other hand, if you have a $500,000 home, your home’s value will increase $50,000 over the same period. But you should only trade up to the $500,000 home if you can afford the $200,000 price difference.

I’ve only included this point as one example of the many opportunities that still exist in real estate today, and an additional reason why homeowners and real estate investors who aren’t in financial trouble will continue to buy and sell homes.

With over 5.2 million houses projected to sell in the U.S. in 2009 alone, that’s a huge potential demand for home stagers. As you can see from this projected growth of 6.6%, the real estate market hasn’t come to a dead stop at all!

Notice that you don’t see much mention of this in the news media because bad news gets more attention than good news. Media outlets are profit-oriented corporations. Their mandate is to increase their audience so they can sell more advertising. They do this by keeping you anxiously glued to the latest “crisis.”

For more information and a more balanced look at the current economy and real estate market, you should download your free copy of “Can I grow a home staging business in a depressed economy?”

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Debra Gould developed the Staging Diva Training Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging businesses. There are currently over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates around the world. Debra encourages anyone concerned about starting or growing a home staging business in today’s economy to download her free special report: “Ask Staging Diva: Can I grow a home staging business in a depressed economy?”

[tags] Debra Gould, Staging Diva, home stagers, home staging, home staging in a depressed economy, starting a home staging business, NAR, National Association of Realtors[/tags]