16. "Bubbles and dips vary greatly depending on the area." In response to In response to 13
Even on the neighborhood to neighborhood level to a certain extent. If you are looking to buy then just look at the trend on the value of the house over the last 5-10 years to get an idea of whether the selling price is over inflated - not just when comparing to other recent sales, but when comparing against it's own value over time.
For example, if there's a big housing bubble and prices are over inflated, there are still going to be some houses available that are around the same price as their historical value over the last 5-10 years. That would be a good house to buy, because even if prices dip, you know THAT one will be relatively stable and will come back up.
We sold our old house and bought a new one at the same time last year. The prices of both sales were up a bit, so we basically won and lost at the same time. BUT our new house is definitely one we planning on being in long term, so the value vs the short term market isn't as big of a deal.