Might work, might not.
Here’s the way I look at it. Houses are investments, but if you’re living there, it’s also a home. You have to decide how much value the latter part means to you. For me, I don’t try to time the market in general, I just make sure I buy in an area where I can expect value to increase, regardless of the housing market in general.
You also have to decide whether the market is artificially inflated, and if so, how significantly. Let’s say for the sake of argument, that there is a degree of artificial inflation going on right now, and that housing prices may dip later this year, early next year, something like that. How much do you think they’ll go down? Unless you’re expecting a true housing market crash (I see no evidence of that), then the degree of market correction probably won’t justify the wait. It’s hard to say, and all these concepts can be very neighborhood-specific too.
All that being said, if you buy a house that you love, at a price you are comfortable paying, then you didn’t overpay. Don’t get caught up in getting the absolute best value for your dollar. That’s a miserable way to live. Get the ‘big things’ right, and don’t sweat the minutia. It’s really easy to end up quibbling about a few thousand dollars here and there, and lose perspective on what you really want in a house, in life, etc.
this. The stock market is as much of a guarantee, short term, as real estate is. Which is to say, it’s not at all. The capital gains tax will almost certainly go up soon, and that MAY hit the stock market hard.
For sure, and again, this is why quality of life is an important factor. What you WANT, at the end of the day, should really determine what you do. Some people never buy a house, and that can be a completely reasonable decision. I’m addressing this with the assumption that you, personally, want to be a homeowner, that you don’t want to do this JUST for money.
All this tells me is that you didn’t ask enough, and that perhaps you would have come up with an appropriate asking price had you hired a realtor
kidding… but kinda not.