The house we sold in Riverside went up $50,000 in one year back in 2002-2003. Now, there is a very similar house for sale on the same block with an asking price $50,000 more than that. FIVE YEARS later. Conservatively, those houses have gone down more than $200,000 since the peak.
So if we wait long enough California will either become more affordable, or a suburb of Mexico City.