Are you factoring in the opportunity cost of the 20% down payment? Besides, your client should know that he won’t be building much equity when buying at the peak of the cycle. When the son gets out of college in 4 or 5 years, he’ll probably sell for less. And all those interest payments and lost earnings on the 20% down payment, will be money down the drain.

Back in the 80s I read in Jane Bryant Quinn’s book that condos are the last to appreciate in boom periods, and the first to depreciate in busts. All the data I’ve observed since then verifies it.