>Why would anyone even bother buying with such lousy rent to sale ratios? Speculation. Prices have been going up at crazy rates for years. Something like 10% a

>Why would anyone even bother buying with such lousy rent to sale ratios? Speculation. Prices have been going up at crazy rates for years. Something like 10% a year isn't uncommon. Millions of people got rich just buying and selling few years later. That, and the necessity to buy before marriage that forces people to stop renting. I don't envy them. Some people spend up to 70% of their income into 30 year mortgages, based on pure conviction that housing prices will always go up.