Raybyrnes, for most first-time buyers in the last 3-5 years, a home has been an investment as well as a place to come home to. When the price of a home gets up to 50% or more of your entire lifetime’s earnings (excluding hoped-for investment gains) less expenses, then you have to consider it as an investment as well as a place to live.
Many people, perhaps like you, have saved enough, or have prior capital gains that are large enough, that current home prices don’t seem burdensome. For example, if I’d invested a halfway decent amount of money in real estate and the stock market starting in the 1980’s, I probably would feel like you do now, that buying a home even at today’s prices should be something I do if I really want to. Home prices don’t feel over-inflated if you’re paying with assets, or could pay with assets, that are also “over-inflated”. Easy come, easy go. It’s all Monopoly money that came easily, and you have enough of it so giving up chunks of it doesn’t feel painful.
For the rest of us that have no prior capital gains, and don’t earn huge salaries compared to the homes we want to live in, a home is our biggest investment, and we need to buy it when its price is low. Every $100K less we spend matters to us because it’s not Monopoly money to us.
Different psychology, depending on your situation.
