Owning your own home

Im not sure why people are so keen to spank a load of their own and the banks money buying property at the moment. Its utterly insane that people are even considering paying 300k for a modest flat at the end of the victoria line (as fine as I imagine the stow is to live in)

This is always a dilemma though isn't it? Do I spend and potentially risk a drop in prices, meaning negative equity in most cases, or do I wait and hope prices drop as the bubble bursts? If you go for the latter, the risk is that you are locked out of owning your own home in London if prices don't drop.