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Well the immediate answer to that is, YES! The market has been shifting the past year and a half to that of what is called a "buyers market". The reason being? Well for one the mortgage industry was dealt a major blow. You see a few years ago, there were so many loans being processed, that the lending guidelines were, well, for the lack of a better term, "bent". That meaning that there was a whole new side to the lending industry, the "sub-prime" lenders. This means that these lenders leant to people with less than worthy credit, and they gave them Adjustable Rate Mortgages, which start out great, with a low teaser rate, but then depending on which kind of loan you got, the rates could jump up as much as 2% per year. So it sounds great to start out with that 4% rate, but then the next year it is 6%, still great, heck the next year when it is 8% it is still historically a great rate, the problem being that the people that were leant to, could afford it at 4%, maybe even 6%, but 8% is pushing it, and then, heck it may even go to 10% the following year, which is a recipe for disaster, for some people.

I have heard people talk, and say, hey these people should have known better, while that may be true, per say, not everyone thinks that the rates are going to go up, heck if you had an adjustable rate from 1993, through 2004 your rate may have risen a whopping 1% over that entire time, easily something most people could swallow. Keep in mind that on average for every one percent raise in an adjustable rate mortgage, per one hundred thousand dollars, your payment goes up $100 a month. So these people that got their mortgages in '04 or '05 whose rates have gone up, 4% or more, their payments have gone up $400 dollars per hundred thousand borrowed!! Now think if they took a mortgage for $250,000, their mortgage just went up $1000, over the past 2-3 years, which is absurd for anyone to try to absorb, unless you get one heck of a raise!!

The other factor that is playing hard on the industry is the price of gas. I don't know about you, but between my wife and I, the increase in the price of gas, has caused us to spend over $250 a month more, just on that one item( I have to drive a lot for showings ). Now imagine if your rate has gone up, and couple that with gas, and it makes for a not so rosy picture.

The time of the ARM, should be slowing down, as more and more people have come to realize that it may not be the way to go, unless they are certain that they can refinance in two years, when they have a better credit score, and go into a fixed 30yr mortgage.

This comes to the part of the market slowing down, the domino effect is occurring at the bottom and being felt through to the top. You see, typically these ARM's were given to people that were buying in the "starter" communities, which then allowed people selling their homes to then move into a larger/more expensive home, then those people then move into a larger home, and so on. When you lose the people at the bottom of the chain, it affects everyone up the line, resulting in a slow down in the market. A slow market means it is prime time for buyers to, well, buy the home they want, there are more choices out there, and more sellers are willing to pay for the buyers closing costs, or negotiate their price. Just keep one thing in mind, homes always are selling, and there is a price that they sell at, so do not think, well, I'll really low ball the seller, and see what they'll take. Work with your agent, and come up with a respectable deal, because the seller then is more likely to negotiate with you. If you try to low ball too much, they will be turned off by you, may not truly negotiate, and you may miss out on the home that you really want to get!!!