[jyl]

Judging from prior housing busts in California, one of which I lived through, house prices do not do a V-bottom - i.e., do not hit bottom and then rapidly rise again. They decline for a long time and then stay low for years. At that point no-one cares about investing in houses, the conventional wisdom is that houses won't ever be a good investment, and no-one particularly wants to talk about house prices. That is when you'll know it is the bottom. You can also simply watch the OFHEO or Case-Schiller charts. Anyway, no need to rush. I think CA house prices will decline for another 2 years or so. In 1 year, it may be possible to buy and lose only another 5-10%.