[quote=sdrealtor]The decision is really a personal one but from personal experience I know you will always be nervous with such a large decision even in the best of times. The question I ask is that if you find it amazing how quickly a good house goes even in this environment what do you think would happen in a better environment. My advice is keep looking and dont make a firm decision either way. See what you can find/get while keeping your search active and the decision will likely make itself.[/quote]
The question is when will a better environment return? I don’t think it will return quickly. To quote Jeremy Grantham in his recently comment on the stock market, “That is, instead of quickly recovering, markets will become cheap and stay below long-term averages for several years as was the case pre-Greenspan. Twenty years is a long time, so most investors think that dipping to fair value for a minute and bouncing is normal. It is, in fact, highly aberrant historically. Markets staying down and washing away a whole generation’s false expectations, high animal spirits, and excessive risk-taking – that would be normal.” I think the same applies to the housing market.