(Of course, prices have skyrocketed since the last time rates were 7%...)The problem with "...am questioning if I should buy now or continue to save in hopes that mortgage rates drop in a couple of months. ..." is that rates might not go down for YEARS - if at all.Inflation keeps coming in hot.

They skyrocketed post 2020.

Great points to consider @Nate T. if rates sky rocket and the banks want their money after I transfer title I would be in a bad position. 

But given our high cost city and sky rocketing interest rates, early and simple analysis of any property has so far resulted in negative cash flow. 

There is a large scale project going down that was bought by a Fortune 200 company in my home area that will bring in thousands of jobs and will inevitable make the appreciation skyrocket.

Turnover in the PM space has been skyrocketing the past few years, so if you are a smaller operator and you only have one leasing agent and they leave, that can be detrimental to the business.

The Palms saw prices sky rocket when people found out they had the potential to make $50k - $70k and they were selling for $170k- $300k.

You would never have lost if you just invested in the broad market in any decade in the last 100 years.If you want to compare it to individual stocks, then stocks beats RE hands down as TSLA and hundreds of other stocks have skyrocketed.

The appreciation value has sky rocketed in the past 5 or so years.

We were in Sunriver OR a few years back and built a few homes, remodeled, but prices just skyrocketed and was too hard to find land.