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The San Diego real estate market is currently undergoing a turbulent and highly instable period that has left industry experts, real estate analysts, buyers and sellers alike more than a bit befuddled trying to predict which way the market is going to end up. Some of the more cynical of these people have in fact given up on trying to make any solid assumptions given the impossibility of making sense out of the zigzagging market trends, and have merely contented themselves with waiting for things to cool down'as most experts agree that they inevitably will'before taking any drastic action.

The real estate market has of course always been prone to rapid and drastic changes and this is particularly true in San Diego. Many times, real estate professionals have had to adjust their answers to queries regarding pricing and value within months, weeks and even days of making a statement in order to more accurately reflect prevailing market trends. Anyone who wants to stay on top of the game'and this goes for buyers as well as sellers'will have to make the effort to constantly receive new and updated information about the market and act accordingly. And in the wild and wooly world of the San Diego County real estate market, that can sometimes happen overnight.

One of the things that real estate analysts have realized'at least in San Diego'is that more often than not, how the majority of people who are involved in the real estate market perceive the current state of the industry has a lot to do with how things actually are in reality. It is almost as if the market is feeding on the level of confidence'or lack thereof'and shifts itself accordingly. Optimism on the part of the consumer has often served to boost the market, and the inverse is also often true. In this case it would seem that the widespread lack of confidence of many in the San Diego real estate industry has resulted in the present unstable condition. In any case, what is clearly needed is a keen eye for any changes that may come and the ability to act quickly when such a change inevitably occurs.

Because of the present real estate situation in San Diego, it has become more and more common for buyers to hold off on purchasing their dream property and waiting for a certain period while the market 'settles down.' While it is indeed a wise decision to hold off from making any drastic decisions while the real estate market is undergoing such a tremendous state of flux, there are situations wherein it would really not be beneficial to wait for another 6 months or so. Far too many people have been in a similar situation of waiting for the market to enter a more predictable or financially viable state before buying, and when the market failed to stabilize as they had hoped, they later realized that they should have acted when the market was as good as it was going to get.

Of course, everyone would like to hold out in hopes of getting a good deal or even those increasingly rare instances'the windfall'but the fact of the matter is that prices in the current real estate market has remained fairly flat for several months now and it will likely remain so for the foreseeable future.

Another thing to consider is that waiting too long will increase your costs considerably in terms of interest rates and mortgage payments. Imagine how much you would have saved in interest payments alone if you had purchased earlier and how much higher your mortgage is going to be today compared to the same time last year. In the current fickle real estate market of San Diego, that can add up to quite a lot of money.

If you are thinking of flipping the property, it might make more sense to time your move according to the prevailing market prices, but even that is not such a good idea anymore. Look at the big picture: is the little money that you save by waiting really going to be significant to you a few years down the line?

The moral lesson that you will have hopefully picked up in all of this is: do keep your eye on prevailing real estate market trends, but if a considerable amount of time has passed without any significant changes in prices, you may as well buy now before you miss your chance entirely.