“I will be able to buy a comparable house with the same sqft for $175K.”
Perhaps. Maybe it takes longer, maybe not.
“That still adds up to them throwing away needless money every single month for the next 10 years or so.”
Depends on your definition of throwing away money. As with all of the uber bears your definition of quality of life sounds like it is 100% defined by finding the absolute bottom of the market.
This may not be true for everyone on the planet or maybe even everyone in Murrieta.
Contrary to what you think many people can enjoy the life they have without having found the absolute bottom.
I am not saying they are or are not throwing away money. I am not saying you are not right or wrong. Personally I agree it will go down further, perhaps much further. However everyone measures their own satisfaction of life through their own eyes. Got to walk in their shoes to assess their life.