INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS: Mon., Jan. 14, 2008

Experts say now is time to buy real estate …

before the market rebound happens this year

By Joe Pangburn

Despite the perception of the current real estate market, a decade into the future, people will look back and kick themselves for not buying a home this year.

So says Lawrence Yun, chief economist and senior vice president of the National Association of Realtors, speaking at the Tucson Association of Realtors' 2008 Forecast seminar Jan. 9 at the Sheraton Tucson Hotel and Suites.

"This is a great market to buy in and a great time to buy," Yun said. "There seems to be an irrational pessimistic outlook on the market fed by negative stories from the media. It is a fact that (2007) is the first time home appreciation was negative since the Great Depression," he said.

Yun called 2008 the year of opportunity and said to make it work, Realtors need to begin battling the mentality and get the message out there that it is an even better time to buy than during the boom.

FULL STORY: http://www.azbiz.com/