You still need to look at who those cash buyers are and what their goals are. Properties were cash-flowing positive a long time ago in many parts of the country, where home prices are so much cheaper, and a 5-10% further decline is not calamitous anyway. I think you’ll find yield chasers comprise a healthy portion of those cash buyers, and they won’t all have the luxury of waiting for an uptick in prices.

You only know you’ve hit bottom after consecutive months of appreciation, discounting any seasonal blips. This market is going to be harder to tell when that happens, since we’re probably in for a long flat period, which doesn’t signal a recovery necessarily, but that the worst is over.