If you didn't buy a home in 2013, you may be kicking yourself now. Home prices climbed nationally an average of 13.6% in the past 12 months, according to the recent release of the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20 city home price index.
Don't make the same mistake in 2014, suggests Benjamin Weinstock, real estate attorney and partner at the firm Reskin Moscou Faltischek in Uniondale, N. Y.
Market forecasters predict that 2014 will be another year of gains for the real estate market, even though the rapid pace of sales in 2013 cooled at the end of the year.
Home prices are expected to rise about 5% in 2014. Higher mortgage rates will dampen the pace of both sales and price gains, but not bring them to a halt. The average rate on a 30 year mortgage is expected to rise only slightly.
Aside from expected price gains, buying a home is almost always a good investment in the long run, due to the tax benefits.
When one rents, at the end of the year he or she has a pile of 12 canceled rent checks. The homeowner has a pile of 12 canceled mortgage checks that are nearly fully tax deductible. Don't get left out of the housing market.