I'm curious: what did you end up doing? I know more and more people buying in Providence and Nashua and commuting to Boston. The thinking being that if you're going to commute, your money should at least buy a decent property (since the Boston suburbs are also very expensive).

I ended up renting for longer and saving more in the hope of real-estate having a lull in the next 5 years -- can be a horrible mistake but only time will tell :)