The rising tide of foreclosures has pushed down home prices significantly over the past 18 months. Homes, relative to income, are about at the historic norm, which means they're more affordable than they've been in at least a decade. 

Beyond that, if you buy a foreclosed property, you might wind up with spending even less, as lenders struggle to process all of the foreclosures and short sales that are piling up. (To give you some idea of just how many foreclosures abound in some markets, if there were no more foreclosures in Florida, it would take the courts nearly two years to process all of the foreclosures on the docket today.) 

Not only have homes come down in price significantly, but 30-year fixedrate
loans are at about 5 percent. Some first-time buyers are getting 15- year rates at 4.5 percent or below. These are historically low interest rates that will seem downright cheap if mortgage interest rates rise above 7 percent, which they will likely do several years from now.
 

Spending less to finance a property means you can buy more for your money or buy less and save more for retirement or other purposes. With interest rates so low, and the price of homes falling, homeownership becomes affordable to many first-time homebuyers.

Click HERE to read a re-print of the Ilyce Glink article, in its entirety, from the April 12th, 2009 Naples Daily News.