"You willing to bank everything on one big decline…You're brave. I wouldn't want to gamble on just one hit wonders." Wouldn't buying now be gambling on the opposite side of the coin?

…As an investment, gambling yes. Foolishly, probably….As a primary home, it depends on what's more important to you (and your family) and whether you can afford it or not. Some folks here seem to talk that they will only buy if things correct 50-70%.. I would say that sort of logic is like saying that you'll only sell a stock only when it hits at $100 when it's currently trading at $50… You can pony up as much data as you want, but highly unlikely anyone is going to be able to predict the bottom.

 The reason why I think things won't get "that" out of hand is banks won't let it. Banks know things are bad, they aren't telling you. I wouldn't be surprised if they start getting creative to bailout people while also screwing them in the process.  Expect to see 40 to 50 year mortgages coming on the horizon, along with lobbied legislation to make it more difficult to just walk away from a loan. I'm sure there are a good percentage of idiots that would do anything to keep their homes. I see the biggest areas of declines are probably in L.A. frankly, especially when the defense budget starts to shrink again. Happened when clinton took office, and it will happen again. San Diego will probably get hit too. But 50-70% decline across the board…uh,sure.