Check out this story from the USA Today. I have found this to be true. Recently I have been working with alot of first time home buyers as well as investors. The first time home buyers have been at a bit of a disadvatage beacuse cash rich investors are beating them to the best homes and making dramatically better offers. Read on:
In cities where housing prices have fallen dramatically, bargain hunters are swooping in and pushing sales upward.
Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Sacramento, and San Diego have all seen sales increases recently after a period of price declines, according to a March report by Radar Logic, a real estate data and analytics firm. In Detroit, sales of homes and condos rose 12.8 percent in February compared with a year ago, according to Realcomp.
The most aggressive shoppers include investors, particularly nationally based ones who are cherry-picking single-family homes in good neighborhoods all over the country.
International buyers also see U.S. home prices as a bargain. With the dollar down against the Euro, European buyers get particularly good deals, but buyers from Asia and Canada also are active, according to international real estate practitioners.
First-time homebuyers are finding this a good time to dip toes in the water. In November 2007, 39 percent of purchasers were first-time homebuyers, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
