A recent article in the California Real Estate magazine presents the issue of Have We Hit Bottom Yet? The answer is two-part. It's 'yes' if you're talking annual home sales and 'not yet' if you're looking at median home prices as stated in the 2009 Economic Forecast published by the California Association of Realtors.
Our current dilema is certainly not the first stroll down misery lane. Going back as far as 1970, California has recovered from two significant downturns. The first was between 1978 and 1982 and featured a 61 percent plunge in sales that was driven by double-digit interest rates that put mortgages out of reach. The second was between 1988 and 1994 and was sparked by a national recession that raged between 1990 and 1991. Compounding the issue were massive job losses statewide in defense, aerospace and finanacial services.
It's important to note that market performance varies drasticallly by city and even between Zip codes. What ultimately matters is the trend in local or micro-market prices (see my Market Data section).
The author concluded that 'timing matters a lot less if you are buying a home you are going to live in for seven or ten years'. Further, timing the market may be neither possible nor advisable. It could well make sense for buyers who adopt a long-term strategy to go ahead and buy when they find a home that both meets their needs and is affordable, as it just may not be available six months down the road.