General statements like this, while might have some validity don’t apply to every situation. Case in point, my wife and I bought a house (being sold under duress) a year and a half ago, completely remodeled it. At the time of the remodel, people in the construction industry were desperate for work so we paid significantly less for the remodel than in 2006 or even today. We are now sitting on a significant amount of equity based on comps within the past 3 months in our area and have a thirty year loan at 4.1%. Much lower than anything you will see in the foreseeable future. For us we wanted to find a place in a good school district for our future kids, and maybe even build some equity. Not to mention that tax benefit that we see….although we still are getting whacked by AMT.