Perspective of a 47 year old...
I bought my first house in 1989 at 10.5% interest. Watched it appreciate really, really slowly for the first 11 years (I bought at the end of a bust), then it took off like a bat out of hell until we sold it in 2008 just before the economy tanked. My lesson learned was not to put too much stock into what the market says about home value at any one moment. That roller coaster will leave you with your stomach lurching. The housing boom going on in some cities? Don't bank on it.... Maybe those values will hold up and maybe they won't.
During the 90s boom there was so much more optimism. Peace, prosperity, IT took off, the debt was under control. And Cisco reached $80 a share (what a bubble that was)....
The 2000s feel like a lost decade+ by comparison. The housing bubble was a mirage, banks and investment firms playing fast and dirty, twelve long years of war (and more to come soon!), the national debt through the roof, health care and education costs skyrocketing. Yikes. And don't get me started on the Redskins.... ;-)
I try to be optimistic, but to be optimistic I have to stop paying too much attention to what is going on in Washington (except for RGIII, of course... ;-) ). There is still fabulous wealth in America if you don't waste it on cable, data plans, big cars, McMansions, etc. There are plenty of good jobs if you are truly good at what you do and can market yourself. Opportunity abounds for those who are both capable and marketable. The 2000s may have sucked for America overall but personally I have absolutely nothing to complain about. That's my takeaway.
As for you, the rock bottom lending rates you have experienced your entire adult life will disappear one of these days and may not return for decades. 5% home loans seemed like a dream come true in the mid-2000s, that was until I refinanced at 3.25% in 2011. That is not the norm. 6-8% is a lot closer to normal over the course of my lifetime. So expect housing (and all forms of borrowing) to get more expensive at some point. It has nowhere to go but up after all. Hell, in the early EDIT - 1980s my mother landed a CD paying 15% when America was experiencing some real gut-wrenching inflation. That is not out of the realm of possibility. All I can say is be ready for some serious change in the future, my magic 8 ball says we won't (can't?) stay on this odd glide path too much longer.