One thing to watch for is when the manipulators of markets have moved on to the next big thing and abandoned housing. That should help values return to a more stable level (which will still be very expensive here in San Diego relative to other parts of the country). Currently the masses still have a lot of wool that needs fleecing with regards to real estate. When the sheep have all been shorn clean the movers of markets will then switch to green energy stocks or commodities or Nevada municipal bonds or some other such nonsense to begin inflating the next bubble.