Excellent way to stimulate the housing market.../sarcasm off
Actually buying a house in about a year is what you should do. The first $500k in profit when you and your spouse sell is currently tax free. Increasing the capital gains tax rate on other investments will make this even more attractive. Interest rates are low, foreclosures and other distress sales are high, most taxes will be going up. This is the perfect storm for making some tax free money in real estate. Even if you currently own a home, move into a second new home and keep the old home for up to 3 more years to still qualify for the tax free status when you sell it. Generally you want to buy a cosmetically beat up house in a nice neighborhood that will appreciate if you clean it up. Go into it planning to sell within 5 years.