Yes, houses are pretty expensive, but nothing like during the bubble.
The “catch” is that interest rates are super low. So if you are planning on financing most of your purchase, and you are able to keep the house indefinitely (because the low financing costs are only beneficial over the long haul), then buying could make sense, depending on your situation/goals/etc. Effectively, the abnormally low financing cost is offsetting a high price in this scenario.
That said it’s also reasonable to not buy. Given where prices are, I don’t see enough price pressure to invoke the dreaded “priced out forever” scenario. So waiting could make sense. You could miss out on the super low rates, if/when they rise, but that could be offset by prices becoming more reasonable.
FWIW I don’t anticipate another home price “crash” as we saw last decade, because the valuation situation is just night and day. The current level of over-valuation could pretty easily be normalized by several years of flat or slightly down prices while incomes and rents continue to grow. Not predicting that scenario, just saying that it’s not like the bubble when a crash was basically the only way out.
Anyway, the bad news is there is no clear cut answer, but the good news is that it’s reasonable to go either way. I don’t feel like you should feel pressured to buy right now “or be priced out forever,” but at the same time, if you found a place you loved and wanted to buy (especially if you are financing), I think it would be perfectly reasonable to do so.
