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Three to four years ago when home prices were at their peak, there were people who wished they could have gone back in time to buy a house before prices went though the stratosphere.  At the same time, there were other people that decided to wait for prices to come down before buying a house. For both sets of people, it would appear that the time has come. Today prices have come down to the 2002 levels, so for the people that wanted to go back in time, here is your chance to go back to 2002. Now for the people who said they wanted to wait until prices come down, now is the time, because prices are at historic lows after being at historic highs. 
To keep things real, you’re going to have both sets of groups that will find fault with this line of reasoning. The ones who wanted to go back in time to 2000, (Home values doubled in many areas from 2000 to 2006.), its just not far back enough for them. They want the magic time machine to go back further to maybe, what like 1985? (The problem is, the 1980s experienced interest rates going up to 20% on home loans.)
For the people who were waiting for prices to come down until they bought, they want to see prices come down even lower! Say another 50%?
The old adage applies; “you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” It would seem that the procrastinators waiting to buy a home will be saying the same thing when prices rise and they miss the boat, “again.”
Now out of those two groups, the ones that have a better chance to have their wish come true might be the ones looking for prices to come down, although it’s very doubtful they will see another 50% drop in value. They might see another 15-20%, but interest rates could increase, and decrease buying power.
With the vast changes to the real estate industry and the government’s involvement along with ever greater influences the Internet is having, it’s hard to see what the future holds.
But, looking back on the real estate industry over the past 60 years, appreciation has occurred. So if you’re in one of the groups of people that really wants to buy a home, now would be a good time to get an idea of what you can afford to buy and find a Real Estate agent to help you find a house that will fit your needs.

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On January 20, 2010, FHA announced major changes to ensure its long-term financial soundness.  FHA is trying to balance three fundamental objectives: 1) financial soundness of the FHA insurance fund   ensuring that its capital ratio returns above 2 percent, 2) fulfilling its mission of serving borrowers not adequately served by the private sector and 3) facilitating the recovery of the housing industry and the over-all economy.

FHA announced changes in the following areas:
The upfront mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) will increase to 2.25 percent up from 1.75 percent.  Contrary to reports, FHA will continue to allow the financing of the UFMIP.
Borrowers with a credit score below 580 will be required to have at least a 10 percent down payment.  The minimum down payment will remain at 3.5 percent for all other borrowers.
FHA will seek legislative authority to increase the annual premium (currently capped at .55 percent).  Over time, increasing the annual premium may allow FHA to reduce the up-front premium.
Seller concessions will be reduced to 3 percent from 6 percent.

FHA will make the following lender enforcement changes:
FHA will implement credit watch terminations at lender underwriting.
Public reporting of lender performance through scorecard system will be implemented.
FHA will implement, through notice and comment, indemnification against lenders.  Indemnification will be expanded beyond fraud and misrepresentation.
FHA will seek legislative authority to enforce indemnifications against direct endorsed (DE) lenders.
FHA will seek legislative authority to sanction lenders nationwide based on performance of local branch.

This is encouraging news for home loans not only for Placerville, (El Dorado County), California, but nationwide. Hopefully, FHA will also reconsider and change or delete some of their recent regulations that have caused negative impacts, plus new loan processing delays.