My guess to hit bottom is also in the 5-8 years range. But if you look at the last cycle, even though it took 7(?) years to hit bottom, most of the fall in prices came in the first 4-5 years. I could be wrong about that, but that’s what I see when I look at the graphs and what not.
Perhaps, if that scenario repeats itself, it might (depending on your situation) not be worth waiting out those last couple years before you buy. Of course, at that point, the psychology of the market (assuming prices do drop fairly significantly) will probably be “don’t buy a house; you’ll lose money.” And timing the bottom of the market is as hard as timing the top of the market, so you won’t know for sure what the future holds. So it’ll be scary buying a house then. But not, if you ask me, as scary as buying one now.
