<prompt> Human: Well, it seems like its happening: the masses are forgetting the recession and previous housing bubble and housing prices in my area are skyrocketing to pre-recession levels.Ive been holding off on buying a home on the assumption that things will remain stagnant in my area due to prices that only slightly dipped after 20078. My thought was that as interest rates rise, affordability decreases. Well, interest rates rose and so did prices. Shit. And theyre still going up.There are a few major trends that I think at fueling this by me:1 Many first time homebuyers sat on the sidelines for years as prices stagnated dipped ever so slightly from 2008-2013. As interest rates ticked up, they got nervous and bit the bullet.2 A trend Im seeing a lot of is that young couples parents are saving them by giving them a down payment. Its worth noting that in the area I live, its common to live at home until youre 30. Children are watched by grandparents as two incomes are required to support mortgages.3 A new normal mentality. People dont expect much for their money, and its assumed that their half-million will land them in an OK house in an OK town with OK schools. House-poor on dual incomes is prevalent.4 Entitled baby-boomer sellers are looking at their homes as a lottery ticket and listing their homes for insane amounts of money. If they dont get any bites, they dont get any bites and take it off the market. Supply is weak.I figured prices would eventually come down to reality. I was wrong, and now Im stuck. The fact is, eventually, were going to need a house rent an apartment currently. Against my better judgement, Im considering dropping 100k on a down payment for a 70 year old home, and buckling up for a 30 year ride with 3000 months payments and taxes that have increased 10 per year without fail.Wed love to move to a cheaper area of the country, but wed move away from all friends and family and were in a situation where we can technically afford it here. Not sure what to do.  <response>: I can speak from experience because I also live in an expensive area. If you want property you are just going to have to save extra, there is no sense in trying to time the market. Save until you feel like you would be comfortable with the mortgage payment, if you put 50 down then that is what you have to do.The advantage especially if you live in an expensive area is that you lock in your housing cost. Currently my mortgage is much less than most people pay in rent in the surrounding area, rent and home prices have gone up in the last 5 years in the SF Bay Area and I suspect that trend holds for NYC. 