I can't tell you what is going to happen national, or globally, but every year I do a "State of the Real Estate Investors' Union" message for my market, The Greater Washington, DC region.  

If you look at the large vibrant cities, this is a common problem- Manhattan's median apartment price is about $1,200,000, and the median rental rate is about $50k/yr(culled from various sources.)

LOL I'm 29, man. 50/50 was said more in jest in light of the current global "empowerment" atmosphere for the "victimized folk".

Unfortunately, this is global.

This area has a pretty vibrant investor community with lots of meet ups to network.

This has been the case ever since the global financial crisis of 2008-2010 which was of course caused in large part by unscrupulous lending practices and mortgage fraud.

But thats just from a overall US/global economic perspective.

What it comes down to for me is that I think Baltimore is an incredibly vibrant and interesting city today.

I am open to any places with a combination of vibrant music, arts, food & drink scene, outdoor recreational opportunities, and a strong job market.

Super affordable and vibrant communities and people are nice.