Have you considered building a home lately? Many people believe that a stagnating housing market points to rough financial times ahead so they tighten their belts and put their wallets away.

What most people don’t know is that a cooling market means cheaper building materials, cheaper labor, and faster construction times.

Housing for low-income wage earners is more affordable than it was just a few months ago. The prices for most kinds of building materials are falling which is great news for owner builders.

The housing market is taking a huge down turn. While that is bad news for the economy in general, it does create an advantage for those with low income who wish to build a home. That means that the prices for lumber, cement, and everything else is going down.

Wafer board has already dropped by about four dollars a sheet in the last few months. I predict it will reach a low of around ten dollars in the spring unless the housing market turns sharply around. It's a fantastic time to be building your own home. The housing boom has been healthy for the economy, but not very good for those of us wanting to buy materials for a home.

Now it's good for us and it will get even better.

As a rule of thumb, I always consider the price of wafer board to be a good indicator of the over all price of building materials. It is used for many different things in home construction.

For those people who don’t want to try to build their own home, the opportunity is still there because as the housing market slows down, there will be many contractors willing to work for less money. The availability of experienced contractors will increase in the months ahead.