I wouldn’t worry about prices going up. It’s the interest rates that are likely to rise. When interest rates rise it hurts the people with less down payment. Live like you are paying $2000 a month in mortgage for 6 months and see if you have enough money left over to pay bills and save a little. Definitely pay off the credit cards if your interest rate is over 5%. Until the Fed stops their Quantitative Easing I would not be too worried in the short term about not being able to buy. I do feel when interest rates start to rise house prices will fall further as fewer will be able to purchase.