[quote=Aecetia]I agree, partypup. I am also surprised to see people buying in 2008, but I keep finding bank owned properties. I saw one a couple of days ago that was bought about 6 weeks ago. Huh? Some people go through life blithely unaware and wonder why they are victims. Others perhaps know too much and that also has its downside. I prefer to stay informed. I am not trying to time the bottom, but even the blind squirrel can see that it is still not here and may not be here for several years.[/quote]
Yeah I don’t think that making a move right now is quite that naive or stupid.
I can see the argument prices may go down further. The better way of looking at it I think is to say that any move should be underpinned by fundamentals. So a buyer should be focusing on what he can get for his money. There will be very very cheap things in San Diego for some time. However, as time goes on, the cheapening trend will start to tilt a lot towards the crappier places. This is also a fundamental aspect. Real estate does not have all the features of a perfect market. In this case that means that the goods for sale are not entirely interchangeable. There will be fewer good options in Hillcrest and University City and Encinitas. There will still be cheap options in Oceanside, Chula Vista and City Heights.
The most long-lasting of the better options will be those in good areas that were overbuilt and overlent. Those would be Downtown, Otay Lakes, Mira Mesa, and a few east Carlsbad.