Same here. I've been on the housing market for the past year, though my local market is the Monterey Bay Area, with parts of the Bay Area and the Central Valle

Same here. I've been on the housing market for the past year, though my local market is the Monterey Bay Area, with parts of the Bay Area and the Central Valley as backup options. Interest rates were considerably lower last year, but the market was an absolute frenzy, with homes receiving multiple offers at prices considerably above asking. At a budget of only $550,000, it was highly discouraging; there were few listings that met my price range to begin with, and all of them ended up selling well above asking. Once the 2022 interest rate hikes began, it's been less frentic; not only are there fewer above-asking bids, but homes are sitting on the market longer, and many sellers have made modest 5-10% cuts in their asking prices. However, a mortgage on a $525,000 home at 6% interest is still larger than a mortgage on a $550,000 home at 3.5%. Even though 6% interest is still low by historical standards, today's home prices in my areas of interest are the highest they've ever been. However, I'm still interested in purchasing now because I don't believe prices are going to drop substantially in my area. There needs to be more housing in order to meet the demand, but Santa Cruz and Monterey counties (less so San Benito County due to the growth of Hollister) have historically not been keen on large-scale development. Thus, supply hasn't increased very much, while demand has been increasing, especially when the pandemic started when the prospect of working from home made commuting to Silicon Valley less of an issue.