Live Small and Prosper: Never been a better time to buy that home??

“Jim Rawson (regional manager of Invis mortgage brokerage firm, Toronto) says it’s a great time to buy a house.” [link to The Canadian Press]

Of course, anyone else trying to encourage folks to sign up for a mortgage would say the same thing.

They might even pick the same headline for the article: Fear trumps low interest rates for Canadian consumers.

Because, as “prices for most consumer goods, cars and houses decline - in some cases plunge - and the cost of borrowing falls, Canadians have been hesitant to buy.”

In my opinion, however, it may not be because of fear.

Perhaps many couples are looking for a small (e.g. 900 sq. ft.), energy efficient home and can’t find it, and are not willing to part with hard earned cash for a big house that requires more furnishings than they need or can afford.

Perhaps many others would like to buy a bigger home and turn it into a duplex, become a landlord, make a bit of extra money, but don’t like homes that are stuck out on the edge of towns, far from amenities, that force you to be car-dependent.

Perhaps many prospective home buyers have simply smartened up (thanks to the recession), low rates or not, and are waiting for developers to do the same.

If I sold my house (1,050 sq. ft.) for another, it would only go smaller.

***

Are you waiting for the right house to come along? Afraid to spend?

.