Interest rates are low, prices are competitive and there is pent-up demand. Because of recent economic conditions, people have postponed new home purchases. It seems folks are getting “itchy” to move.

While many of your readers were probably not paying attention to housing in the early 1980s, I (alas!) was. Then, too, the economy was in the doldrums. No one was buying homes. But suddenly (and, as I recall, it seems as if it happened over a period of a few weekends), sales picked up and Americans started moving again.

The new homes market can change quickly. Those who act ahead of the trend often get the best deals. I like to quote the old Wall Street adage: Buy straw hats in the winter. It’s always frightening to buy when the market looks horrible and hard to sell when it seems as if it will keep going up forever, but successful investors – the Warren Buffets of the world – have always bought low and sold high. . .