"It really is ... because these negatives that we hear about in the homeownership market really are not going to last. They are temporary," says Dr. Walden. "And really today is a pretty good time. I mean this is sort of taking a contrarian approach, when the news is kind of gloomy you want to buy.

"But let's look at the keys here:

"Interest rates -- interest rates are certainly higher than they were at their low back in 2003, but they are still much under their high earlier in this decade," he explains. "They are very affordable when you look at many decades of interest rates.

"Inventories -- housing inventories are high. That's bad for sellers, but it's good for buyers because that means those sellers are more likely to negotiate on the price," he adds.

"Likewise we hear about bankruptcies, and we hear about people getting bad mortgages. Well, this is a matter of education. You do need to look at the mortgage products, the alternate mortgage products," Walden continues. "If something sounds too good to be true it probably is. But there are a lot of very, very good mortgage products out there. Most lenders are very reputable. So again I wouldn't let all that bad news deter you from taking out a mortgage.

"So when you wrap all this together," he concludes, "I would argue that, yes, now is a very good time to buy a home."