> If you're a prospective first-time house buyer you've had to deal with the fact that your dream home is now likely to be 15-20% more expensive than it was las

> If you're a prospective first-time house buyer you've had to deal with the fact that your dream home is now likely to be 15-20% more expensive than it was last year. Now your mortgage rate is likely to be higher too as average 30-year fixed mortgage rates are getting close to touching 4% in the US, the highest reading for almost 3 years. I think this going to vary by market. I just bought a house in Portland and home prices are already back on track from where they were at a year ago. They at least match a linear scale and compare to already established averages in the area. Generally, and this may be the bias of 2008 in my mind, values won't fall that far below what is the average of your area for a sustained period of time for long. On the other hand traditional mortgages are requiring buyers to buy two points up front, which gets you to 7% (or 6% when I was shopping). So, on that front it's pretty bad. The question you have to ask yourself if you're looking at buying right now is: Can I survive a recession under these circumstances.