I've been out of the country for nearly 20 years so all of my information comes either from friends and family who have benefitted greatly from the housing market rising, or from information that is 20 years old. I just remember that my parents were not wealthy but they kept increasing the size of the home that we lived in when I was young. When I hear what people are paying for houses these days I am alarmed but then again, I was never really in the market at all anyway.
And yeah, where you are trying to live is absolutely crucial. The difference in the price of a home in say Cleveland vs Los Angeles would be extreme!
For sure the last year or two has been crazy. Things are finally starting to die down. I remember my friend who works manages a title company telling me about a piece of crap house that was selling for over $100K when it was easily worth less than $30K. People were throwing insane money around and it will likely come back to bite them eventually. My wife and I actually want to downsize a bit, but there is no inventory right now. Selling our house for a profit would be easy. Finding a new one to move into... Not so much!