The good news is property values in the US are high. Bad news is banks are giving a huge amount of no or low down payment loans. As with these 200 buyers, what's been forgotten is property ownership means being able to take care of it (maintenance & repairs including the unexpected), insure it, pay property taxes on it, etc. Buying without having enough savings to cover the unexpected and a possible job interruption isn't moving oneself forward financially. I met someone last week that owns in an HOA and claimed he didn't know until after the closing there were monthly dues.  I know others that bought with no or 5-10% down and within 6 months they were in trouble because of some income issues. I think the last housing/foreclosure mess should have taught everyone that we must have a certain amount of cash reserves - that keeps renters/owners alike off the streets. 6 million homes were foreclosed on during the housing crisis.