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Before the property bubble burst in Japan they started offering multi-generational mortgages. That's right, banks offered punters loans that were for sums larger than they could pay off in 100 years! (So it was up to your kids to assume the repayments long after you'd moved to smaller premises below ground.) So bubbles can continue for many more years than most people imagine (or as Keynes said it: "Markets can stay irrational much longer than you can stay solvent.") And they won't necessarily correct as much as people hope, either. (Prices can move sideways for a mighty long time just to achieve the same result.) Personally, I have no idea what houses are worth or what house prices will do, and I sure wouldn't wager climbing to the top of Kosciuszko about it.
I reckon buying a home to live in is much like having kids: there's never really a right time to do it, and you shouldn't hold out much hope for a financial return. Chances are you do it impulsively and for all the wrong reasons, all the benefits are largely intangible, paying for it causes endless gnashing of teeth, there are always problems that need solving and fresh causes of heartache, and at the end of the day you wouldn't have it any other way.
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