Real Estate Investment Window Opening

Several times in the past week I have heard comments from some very sharp folks that the window for real estate investment is starting to reopen. By way of background, real estate investors withdrew from our Twin Cities market over a year ago. Surprisingly, that constituted almost 25% of real estate Buyers in the area. Naturally, with that many Buyers out of the market, inventories have risen dramatically and prices have been forced down due to lack of demand.

With bargains for Buyers on nearly every street in town today, investors are starting to take notice. Couple that with a sudden instability in the stock market and you have a perfect real estate buying storm. Savvy investors are poised to take their gains on stocks and return to real estate. That will occur over the next 12 months, some returning earlier than others.

What does this mean?

As this investor tide returns, prices will stabilize and once again start to climb. Inventory levels will decline. The 10.5 homes currently available for each Buyer will decline to 5 or 6. Buyers over the next 6-12 months will likely see big gains on their real estate investments within a few years. Like all investments, real estate needs to be held for a few years to maximize the gain - few get rich quick schemes ever really materialize.

Stay tuned.