Cold Feet

I am hearing totally conflicting information about whether or not it is a good idea to purchase a home in this economy. I've got people with serious histories in finance, banking, and real estate telling me completely conflicting information.

I'm hearing that economic indicators in our area are down, I'm hearing that in 6 months, house prices will be much lower than they already are, and that we'll receive MUCH more house for our money. On the other hand, I'm hearing that real estate prices are very low right now, and it's better to take advantage of the low prices now than assume they will continue to drop.

Logistically, we could easily make this work. We're pre-approved for a first-time home buyer program and are offering well below what we're pre-approved for, and even below what our "target" was based on our own budget. We have very little debt. Very high estimates of our monthly mortgage payment (taxes included) would put us less than $500 more than our current rent. We EASILY have way more than that in excess income each month. The ONLY wrench would be if either or both of us were laid off, which of course is possible, but isn't likely.

I sent an email to the financial guru in my family asking his opinion on buying a house in this economy. He advised my parents against buying a house to flip several years ago. They didn't listen, but he was right on the money, and he's been pretty accurate about economic predictors since then. I'm curious to see what he has to say. The financial guru on Justin's side of the family (one of the ones who is gifting us $), seems to be fairly against buying a house now. She predicts that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg in this financial crisis, and that we'd be getting much more house for our money 6 months from now.

Ugh. I totally have cold feet right now. I am so close to wanting to say "SCREW THIS" and throwing in the towel. What's your take on the market? Is it a good time to buy, or not?