Should You Sell, or Wait?

The question looming over many homeowners now, with the recent housing bubble crash is this:  Should they sell now, or wait to see if the market recovers next year?

Although there are some positive signs in the Bay Area such as the emergence of Biotech and the upswing of technology companies – there are increasing signs that indicate that we are no where near the bottom yet. 

Foreclosures continue to increase, and everywhere you look, you see For Sale signs marked as “Recently Reduced”. 

The Bay Area has been fortunate over the last 10-15 years, but if you look at other markets and how they fared after the crash, values could continue to plummet and may take many years to recover. 

From a recent Chicago Tribune article, the LA market peaked in 1990 and then dropped due to changes in the defense and technology industries.  Homeowners who bought at the peak in 1990 had to wait 10 years to recoup their investment. 

Boston had a similar story – and home-buyers in Houston had to wait 15 years before the market again turned. 

Will this happen in the Bay Area?  I have been optimistic in the past about our market, but now I see that my optimism may have been born of blind faith.  I don’t think we will see a decade go by before our market perks up, but I no longer think it will just be one year. 

If you want to get a decent price before prices sink further – I say sell now!