Why wouldn’t you buy now if what you’ll be paying is cheaper than renting a similar place and you’ll be making it your primary resident for 5-10 years? If you say, well, if you rent, you can buy a better house at the bottom 5 years from now. I can very well say that, if it’s cheaper to buy than rent the same house, if you buy, 5 years from now, you’ll have even more money to down to buy that better house and rent your current place out for at least break even. Not everyone is living in areas that are still cheaper to rent than buy.