Trying to time the market in real estate is probably as dumb and counterproductive as trying to time the stock market. The biggest difference is that owning a

Trying to time the market in real estate is probably as dumb and counterproductive as trying to time the stock market. The biggest difference is that owning a home has tax advantages over stocks, so it's even worse to sit on the sidelines if you can get in responsibly. If you're looking for a big gain in real estate, you'd do better to understand which local markets are heating up--this can be predicted from data with some reliability, unlike global crashes. (Note: sitting on the sidelines until a crash happens is not the same thing as predicting when a crash will happen.) Whether buying a home is a good decision depends primarily on your own factors--savings, income, tax status, family status, job stability, where you want to live, etc. External factors like global financial trends have little impact.