[sergeantdave]

You're buying at the top of the California housing bubble. You could be stuck with a whopper mortgage payment and a declining home value. Ouch!

Then again, some lefty California judge could declare that all private property belongs to the state and you'll get to live there rent free, ala North Korea, with all the tree bark you can eat.

[Maximum Leader]

I agree, I think Southern California is in the middle of a real estate bubble. I suppose if a buyer can get a 30 year fixed that they can afford, it will all turn out OK in the long-term (but in this economy, who has that kind of job security?).

Last March, the actor James Woods (who's brilliant) was telling Jay Leno that he sold his house and was renting (IIRC he told Jay he was living in a hotel). He thought the LA real estate market was crazy and was waiting for the market to drop to a more sane level before he bought again.

That would be my gut reaction. If my company moved me out to LA, I'd just rent.

[sangoo]

When interest rates rise you will see a decline in property values, no question about it. That doesn't mean that in the long run values won't increase, but to think they continually go up is nonsense. I remember one of my appraisers telling me in 1988 that we, in California, were immune to value declines due to this, that and who knows what else. Right.