House prices are not soaring, it is exactly the opposite. Interest rates are high , less people can afford a loan because it is expensive now. So less people buy houses , less demand = lower price.
Yeah most people seems to be confusing the difference between the actual price for houses and the interest rates including the price of the houses. Either way, throwing away huge amount of cash to buy a house / property to avoid all these interest is still a no go though. I'd still rather take on these interest over years instead of paying lump sum amount
I often see those folks that are financially free to purchase their houses in cash so that the banks won't have the interest from paying that for so many years.
Only if you are rich enough to throw in lump sum, otherwise it wont happen. The actual price for houses is actually high enough for most people to afford and not alot would be able to afford to purchase it in cash