Home prices rose an average of more than 50 percent nationwide in the past five years, which left many people scrambling to play catch up or try and get in on the windfall profits they read about in the papers and saw on the news at night. Unfortunately, as any kid who ever blew a bubble knows, every bubble must burst and what goes up must come down.

But, the good news is that if you are looking to buy a home now, you are presented with huge cost saving opportunities that in effect allow you to turn back the clock on the bubble. Because bubbles come and go, the most recent one is gone, but another will come along and people who purchased during the current downturn will have realized significant asset appreciation in that time.