Need a good reason to move forward with your decision to buy or sell a home in today’s housing market? How about nine?

You’ll find them in the newly updated fact sheet from the Illinois Association of REALTORS®, “9 Facts You Should Know About Today’s Illinois Real Estate Markets.”  From low mortgage interest rates to a variety of safe and affordable mortgage programs available even to people with less-than-perfect credit, there are many opportunities in the market for first-time and move-up buyers.

Illinois REALTORS® share these facts with clients by downloading “9 Facts” from www.yourillinoishome.com or order free copies in quantity from the IAR REALTOR® Store. Three of the facts worth knowing:

#1 – Affordability is at a generational high. The combination of lower home prices and historically low mortgage rates has made housing exceptionally affordable relative to household income.

#5 – When you sell, recoup when you buy. Waiting until later may cost you in the long run. What a seller may lose on the sell side can be recovered on the buy side when you take advantage of the low interest rates and lower priced homes.

# 8 – Owning makes sense. The vast majority of both homeowners and renters say that owning a home is a smart decision over the long term. Even in today’s challenging economy, 95 percent of owners and 72 percent of renters believe that over a period of several years it makes more sense to own a home, according to the National Association of REALTORS® 2011 “American Attitudes About Homeownership” survey.