‘I’ve been on Zillow’: Expert says it’s the worst time to buy a home in U.S. history. Is he right?

Paying rent can feel like a waste of money. While one gets housing in exchange for their payment, that money isn’t resulting in any tangible equity—and as soon as a renter moves out, all of their previous rent payments provide little help in the securing of a new place to stay.

As a result, many young people are seeing "buying a house" as a way to escape the trap of perpetual rent payments. While many young people today believe they will never own a home due to the high cost of purchase, for those who can afford it, purchasing a house can feel like the correct financial decision.

But if one is considering buying a house, they may want to hold on for a little while—or at least, that’s what TikTok user @byhistruth says in his video with over 516,000 views.

Why does this man say you should wait to buy a home?

TikTok user @byhistruth has been going viral a lot in recent weeks for his dire financial predictions.

For example, he recently claimed that the country is about to “go through the biggest recession anyone alive today has ever seen.” In another, he declared that the car market, which has been seeing high prices for several years now, was in the process of collapsing.

In this video, the TikToker explains why he believes that now is “the worst time in U.S. history to buy a home.”

“Most of the time when I say this, everyone's like, ‘Yeah, you know what, I've been on Zillow, I can see it,’” he states. “But for those of you that say you want to see the data, here [are] three reasons why you do not want to buy a home right now.”

Reason No. 1: The House Price Index

“We have never seen home prices rise this much in U.S. history without having a correction,” he says.

As evidence, he shows a graph of the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, available here. The TikToker’s exact statement is a bit difficult to quantify, though many industry analysts agree that the present market is indeed unprecedented.

Concerning house prices specifically, it’s true that housing has dramatically increased in price and outpaced other forms of inflation. While consumer prices overall have risen 203% since 1984, the median price of a single-family home has gone up by 423%, per Marketplace.

Reason No. 2: There are a lot of realtors

“Every time we go into a recessionary time that involves houses in America, a bunch of people have gone to sign up to be realtors,” he starts.

“Check out what happened back in 2008,” he continues, noting a graph from Cavelit. “We have, for three consecutive years, broken records on the number of people that have signed up to be realtors.”

While it’s true that we’ve seen record numbers of realtors in recent years, there’s simply not enough data to suggest that this is a reliable indicator of a coming housing market correction.

Reason No. 3: Home prices vs. median income

Finally, the TikToker reveals his third reason to not buy a home, which he identifies as “a big boy” and “a heavy hitter”: Home prices compared to the median income.

To start, he shows a graph detailing just how much higher the average single-family home price is compared to the median income. For context, just before the housing bubble burst in 2008, the ratio was around 6.75; presently, the ratio is around 7.22.

“Anytime we hit these levels, we have seen very negative consequences of that, and you can see that right now, we are significantly higher than most times in U.S. history,” he says.

“The housing market is going to correct big time. There's going to be big opportunities,” the TikToker concludes. “Pay attention for either low interest rates or lower prices, but right now is neither of those.”

What do the other experts say?

Expert opinion is divided on whether now is a good time to buy a house. For example, a December 2024 article in Barron’s declared that “it’s still a bad time to buy a home.” However, economists generally aren’t predicting a housing collapse in 2025, and if there is a correction, economists predict that it will be modest.

That said, there is growing discontent with the present housing market, and the number of homeowners falling behind on mortgage payments has risen since 2021.

'Lots of people are waiting'

In the comments section, users weren’t too sure about the TikToker’s predictions, with some saying their non-home ownership options are limited.

“I don't have a choice,” said a user. “I either pay $1600 for rent or $1600 mortgage.”

@byhistruth Don’t buy a house yet! Worst time to buy a home. There is a housing bubble. #housingmarket #recession #financialfreedom #economy #fyp #fyp #moneytok #realestate #homeloans ♬ original sound - byhistruth

“Double digit growth is over for now. but prices arent going to drop,” alleged another. “they'll stagnate for a couple of years before returning to a normal rate of growth of 3-4% per year.”

“Okay but lots of ppl are waiting. If interest rates fall everyone jumps in to buy so the demand is still there and prices won’t drop, they may even increase. Which means we will still have to pay more,” detailed a third.

We’ve reached out to @byhistruth via TikTok comment and DM.

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