If you have been anywhere in the vicinity of a newspaper or flipped through the channels recently, you have probably read or heard a story on the low mortgage loan rates happening right now in the US.  Tons of homeowners are refinancing their homes through a myriad of programs such as HARP 2, VA and FHA streamline as well as conventional.   Through these refinances, homeowners are saving hundreds or dollars each month on their mortgage payments.  In addition to the record number of refinances, many people are moving on from renting to owning.  And why not – money is cheap and home builders are desperate for sales so there are good deals to be had.

The home builder industry is starting to pick up again and there are some good signs that the housing market has returned.  According to an article in the NYT, the Commerce department said Builders last month started construction on single-family houses and apartments at the fastest rate in more than four years.

This is all great news.  But you can’t help but wonder what the future holds.  Yes, home sales are going up but we should not ignore other factors in the market such as the following:

• Foreclosures and short sales are still prominent in many communities nationwide.
• The long term US economic growth is still in jeopardy as many banks are suggesting that we have many problems to hammer out.
• There is still the fact that we owe Trillions dollars to another country.

I’m suggesting that our economy isn’t at the bottom yet in terms of housing.  There are still pockets of the country where supply exceeds demand and banks still have limits on to whom they can lend.

I feel that because there are many unknowns out there as to where we’re headed, rates could still go even lower and you can get money for even cheaper.  Also, because of the economic uncertainty, we can still have another recession and more companies will fold and more people may lose their jobs.  So, it doesn’t really matter if you buy now at low rates, just make sure you job and income is steady so if anything unfortunate happens you’ll be ok to pay your monthly mortgage payment.