21 male, live at home, saving for a down payment. Apartment to be bought in ~2-3 years.
Where I live (not the U.S.) the value of properties (houses, apartments etc) has doubled in the last 10 years and has increased 6-fold since 1996, after adjusting for inflation. Simultaneously, up until mid 2016 there was no requirement to pay down on mortgages and so most people took them out and have literally not paid a cent on their mortgage other than the down payment which often didn't even cover 10%. At the moment, interest rates on mortgages are between 1.3% - 1.5%, and it appears as though real estate prices have surged so dramatically due to said low interest rates, lack of amortization on mortgages and a 30% cash-back on all interest payments related to those mortgages.
With that said, buying now is highly questionable, due to the overpriced real estate market. Then again, the consensus on this sub and in the FIRE community as a whole is not to worry about when you make an investment (especially when it comes to broad stock index funds) as long as you intend to hold it long-term. The problem is I probably won't hold the apartment long-term (10+ years) and I definitely think there's a real estate bubble here. Keep in mind that my country was virtually unaffected by the 2008 financial crisis.
What does one do in this situation? Do I keep saving for a down payment on an apartment or do I start saving in stock index funds, with the intention of subsequently renting a place? The problem with renting is it's generally a lot more expensive if you do it second-hand than owning your own place, and it takes you 10+ years to actually get a place to rent if you go through the government-aided system where those who have queued the longest are given a place sooner. So young people are shit out of luck. I'm certain real estate prices will drop once interest rates are raised again - our central bank has negative prime lending rates. Yeah. This won't last forever.