You’re basically making an inflation bet. Do some research and see what you believe about inflation and hard assets (RE being one).

You can be priced out of a neighborhood / city over time (SF in the 2000s). If you’re sure you want to come back to SD / CA at some point, look for an asset (smaller house) which pencils better than that McMansion with the Mello Roos. That way you’re not stuck for as much out of pocket each month between now and then.

Every lever in govt has been thrown to prop up housing prices. You may see declines but I dont think they will be large enough for housing to ‘make sense’