I believe, firmly, that now is, indeed, the right time to buy here. I'm acting on that and advising friends and family to do the same. 

What if I'm wrong and we do see further declines in prices for the remainder of 2008? If your intent is to invest in real estate here in order to flip it quickly, that would be a losing proposition. If you are buying for the long term, you can take heart. You can safely buy the home or lot that really fits your needs at a bargain price and enjoy it right now. Land prices and construction costs, by the way, are never likely to be this low again. Buy now and you could see short term losses on paper, but you can be confident that your property will appreciate dramatically in the not-too-distant future. Why? Our unique market fundamentals.

Surrounded as we are by National Forest, private property here is a finite resource. When the land available to build on is gone, it's gone. As supply inexorably diminishes, prices will reach levels that are hard to conceive of today. That, of course, assumes that demand will continue to rise. Demand will be driven, first by the incoming tide of retiring, well-heeled Baby Boomers. The median age of that generation will be 54 this year. That's a couple of decades or so worth of future retirees and second home purchasers. And, that doesn't even account for the following generations and the influx of immigrants and foreign buyers.

The bottom line is that there's no time like the present to begin enjoying the benefits of living in Sedona.

Roy Grimm is the President of Buyer Brokers Realty, an Exclusive Buyer's Agency serving the Sedona and Flagstaff areas. He is a Certified Residential Specialist, a Certified International Property Specialist, and a Master Certified Exclusive Buyer's Agent. For questions and comments, email him at Roy@SedonaRealEstate.com.

Visit the Buyer Brokers Realty of Sedona and Flagstaff at: www.SedonaRealEstate.com and www.FlagstaffBuyerBrokers.com.

Article by Roy E. Grimm, Ph.D.