...It's time to buy: because prices have fallen quite a bit from their peak. Besides, a home is not an investment; it's a place to live. Richard Green, the new director of USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate, just bought a home in Pasadena: "This was the house we wanted to live in," he said. "A house can be like a car, something you use and enjoy and have for a while. Whether it goes up or down in value may not be so important."