End of the Housing Boom?

End of the housing boom?  Maybe it's not such a bad thing!   

Recent figures for sales of new and existing homes, both showing sharp declines, make it clear that the long-anticipated real-estate downturn has begun. Tales of woe are mounting from the real-estate industry, from home builders and architects, to empty-nesters and retirees hoping to cash out of big homes and move to smaller places.  

There is no doubt that the real-estate industry casts a long shadow, which is why some economists and policy makers are fretting about a slumping market's capacity to drag down the whole economy.  

But let's look at the bright side, too. The real-estate market during recent years had many unhealthy economic and psychological effects. Soaring prices forced many people, especially young people buying their first homes and starting families, out of many markets. It pushed too many people into dreadful mortgages. It misallocated capital to construction for which there was no fundamental demand.   Don't try to time the real estate market based solely on mortgage rates or what anyone may be saying about a real estate bubble.  If you like something, if it fits your budget, and you plan to be there for any extended period of time, stop worrying about what everyone is saying about where prices are heading or have come from and be grateful you weren't buying a year ago. Now appears to be the best time in years to find that home you may not have been able to afford a year ago.