It’s the scourge of the family car vacation: the nasally voice coming from the back seat, waaaaaaaayyyy too often, asking “Are we there yet?”  And you’ve only rounded the corner out of your neighborhood.  It’s going to be a long drive. . .

I feel like that now, only it’s all of us in the back seat chiming in with the collective “Are we there yet?”  Has the real estate market hit bottom?  I’ve posted on this topic so many times I have to debate whether to post on it yet again.  But whether I like it or not, it’s the question everyone’s asking.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal’s online site, WSJ.com, posted a story posing just that question: The Housing Crisis Is Over?

The post included the figure, above, as well as statements from a number of real estate experts (professors and analysts, not agents – for all you cynics) saying that we are, indeed, at the bottom and that now is the time to buy.

One of the interviewees pointed to a private portfolio manager in London, who said the homebuilding stocks on Wall Street were at last a “buy.”

The driver of the upturn, according to the experts, is the relative affordability of homes now and low interest rates, making home ownership possible once again for first time homebuyers. 

Interestingly, among the many comments, most were decidedly pessimistic that we’ve reached the bottom of the housing market turnaround.  Some pointed to the idea that the current market is not the same as markets before, and therefore we can’t look to those market bottoms and turnarounds as predictors of this one.  Others said that housing is still not affordable for many people.  Still others commented on the oversupply of homes in bubble areas – including Florida, Nevada, California, and parts of Arizona.

What about you?  Are we there yet?