Having already bought in 2012. A place which took me 5+ years of working with 20% deposit, and which by now has magically pushed me to the 65%+ LTV bracket (due to the further inflation of the bubble, more than my own repayments). A place which was at a discount due to needing lots of work (approx 15% compared to the next door neighbour ..)
And even believing in the "buying is better than renting" thing, especially as renting is equally silly money, and you get treated as a second class citizen on top of that... (the key assumption to this is that you absolutely *must* stay in the same area for 20+ years -- then it is always better to buy than rent I suppose since both are expensive..)
.. I am still voting NO.
Even if I had a crystal ball back in 2000 when I moved to this country and bought then (because of the "foresight")... and probably would be mortgage free by now, I would STILL not buy in 2016 (second property or whatever).
If I had to move here in 2016, I'd be renting and trying to get out of the country as soon as ... (probably to the USA).
.. (back to reality) Even having bought now, I am still thinking about leaving. After all I now have a son and.. how is he supposed to have a place to stay in 18 years? At least if I cash in that 40% now, I may be able to buy something outright or with a small mortgage, and enjoy my life with the salary instead of throwing it to the never ending debt hole ..