According to Trulia's research, it will be cheaper to rent than buy in the Bay Area when interest rates hit 5.5%. For most of the rest of the country the rates

According to Trulia's research, it will be cheaper to rent than buy in the Bay Area when interest rates hit 5.5%. For most of the rest of the country the rates would have to hit over 10% (!!!) for that to be true. So it should prove interesting what happens then. That said, my wife and I are in the middle of (trying) buying a house here. So far, there is intense competition amongst buyers. One home we put an offer on had 19 offers total. We offered 21.5% over asking and at least 3 offers came in ahead of us.