Housing prices may be the best they have been in five years – and perhaps in our lifetime. California houses prices are up substantially as a whole and – as of August – the San Francisco Bay Area is about 33% off the March 2009 bottom. Even so, the idea that a house offers ever-increasing value is a myth. Housing prices can go up and down like any other price.
Regardless though – a house remains a great long-term investment especially since real estate is essentially a natural resource that – with an ever growing population – becomes increasingly scarce – which tends to ultimately result in increasing values.
More importantly however – we must remember that a house offers us a place to live and create lifetime memories. A house provides us a place to live our lives – day in and day out – a place to build a life and a lifestyle – and a place to create and connect with our families and our community.
We are especially lucky to have the opportunity to pursue that dream here in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Bay Area offers us a great quality of life – with its amazing weather – it’s easy access to beautiful places – such as the California coast and mountains, its proximity to Asia – and everything that follows from that – including a diverse and educated culture – and people from all over the country and the world that want to work, play and live here.
For more, be sure to check out the 10 Reasons To Buy a Home / Enough with the doom and gloom about homeownership, which was recently posted on The Wall Street Journal.