standsd, i like how you think in terms of base price per square foot, then marginal price per square foot.

In broad terms, I would not even look at buying right now. Watch the national economy, the local and the coming recession. When we are in the depth of the recession, evaluate how much you want to pay for a house.

Just suck it up and rent for now.

There are too many factors that will affect prices (interest rates, bailouts, recession, etc..). The reasonable price you come up with today won’t be reasonable a couple years from now.

Did you see the 1999 prices in the Temecula thread? Don’t you think that the pain train will chu chu southward and westward?