We (me and my spouse) made an offer for a small condo and then next week company started the layoffs. Luckily we were not in that position where we spent all our savings and ended up in a position where paying mortgage would have been a huge challenge. It's been a year, have a job but uncertainity is very high. Loosing a job now means finding the next one is not very easy and no certainity that it can be a matter of month or two. We made a decision that since we have enough to pay for the downpayment and enough to pay a year of mortgage, we would not go and buy a house in Southern California. It is better to live in rented property but not safe to be in a position where you loose the property.