Buying a home is a vastly overrated experience. Especially now with interests rates up, even with lower prices it's less sensible to buy now than a year ago. You shouldn't tie up your net worth in a huge illiquid asset.
I'd argue this is pure cultural bias. It's been beaten into our heads the home ownership is part of the American Dream. Owning a home felt to me like a massive burden. The house owned me more than I owned it.
Everything psychological has a cultural bias, that doesn't make it less real.
With who I am, from my culture and upbringing, it was near impossible to be happy without a home. I tried for 15 years without success. I grew up reading Walden and love building and improving things. I was never going to be happy in a rental without substantially changing my personality, and couldn't do so when I tried
I don't get that argument. Refinancing exists. If you can swing it, buying at peak interest rates is a great idea. All of those Boomers who whine about 18% rates from 1981—rates which by the way persisted for only 2 months—got the deal of a lifetime.
In addition to what jeffbee said, because when the rates go down, not only can you refinance, but also the value of the house goes up. (Because the demand side of the supply/demand curve is set by monthly payments, not by total value, and when interest rates go down, the same monthly payments can fund a higher face value loan.) So you get the lower payments and capital appreciation.
By the way, the same "increase of face value" is true of buying long bonds at peak interest rates.
Of course, the trick is knowing when the peak is. But if the Fed's actions have their intended effect, we may be somewhat close currently. (Note well: I am not an investment advisor! Follow at your own risk.)
You are very likely to get a lower rate after a year or two. Anyone who bought at that peak 1981 rate had refinanced to cut their payment by half within only 5 years. Even if they had refinanced after just 1 year, their payments were already 20% lower.
This analysis assumes that rates would decline from exceptional highs, which is implied by the phrase "exceptionally high".
A Boomer who bought a house with 10% down and a $56k loan on fixed 30-year terms at 18% in October 1981 was initially paying $844/mo but in 1982 they could have refinanced down to just $700/mo. By 1986 their home was worth a nominal $80k and their payment was potentially down to just $450/mo.
I feel like it was a prerequisite living the life I wanted, and the absence was the source of a lot of depression and anxiety.
My main regret is not buying earlier, money be dammed. I would happily trade that money for more happy years.