And this is exactly what has gotten nearly everyone in trouble financially and is contributing to current housing bubble.. Not understanding value based on quality in the workmanship and choice of materials going into the largest financial obligation average working folks commit to rather than spending the maximum they can based on down payment and monthly payments allows large volume builders continue to crank out low quality and vastly overpriced products. A normal interest rate is healthy for a stable economy with the housing sector being key to returning to a saner ‘old’ normal. I have purchased several new homes over the past 2 decades with my last home being the worst. There appears to be no skilled labor, only labor in the construction trades. It amazes me how a man could walk away from the quality of the work completed, let alone the builder who not only walks away but also does not warrant his work. This all could be the effect of easy money which seems to have changed the approach to most things. What I fear is that what is built today will become slums tomorrow, not something to be treasured and purchased again by a young family, but bulldozed and repeated.