Waiting for lower rates could be costly

You could be making a financial mistake by holding off thepurchase of a house while waiting for mortgage increase rates todecline.

Chester Moskal, newly-elected president of the Home BuildersAssociation of Greater Chicago believes prices of new housing will goup by 8to 15 percent next year, and little change in interest rates.

"Land prices and material costs are continuing to spiralupwards. Over the past several months," said Moskal, who also ispresident of Moskal Development Corp., based in Glenview.

"Over the past several months, the cost of lumber has risenabout 12 percent due to the tariff put on Canadian imports, whilematerials such as electrical …