Plenty of people buy. I have a friend that moved here from the Midwest. His company bought his house to get him here which he couldnt have sold otherwise. Both he and his wife got big time raises to come here as well as a rich relo package. HH Income went from about 200K to 350K. They bought a house with about 35% down and a mortgage about 1.5X their HH income. They love their house and are glad they bought.
The prices will be lower this Spring than last by about 5 to 10% in this area. One by one your friends will buy as they find they can afford what they truly want. Some this Spring and some next and so on. People with 200K HH incomes can easily afford 500K 30 yr fixed rate mortgages and will start finding homes they like in great areas between 600K and 800K. If you dont buy others will. If you expect to get a great house around here under 500K you will be sadly disappointed IMHO.