I disagree. I have cash, just not the crazy amount necessary to buy a 1.2M two bedroom apartment. Once prices cool down a bit the 20% of that will be lower, payments lower. I'm not hoping for a thermonuclear war, just for sanity.

Unless, of course, your company goes through multiple rounds of layoffs and paycuts, as does all the other companies in the area. Then you're too scared to buy a place because you're worried about getting saddled with a large debt and possibly losing your job.

It will be a great time to move to San Francisco after the rent prices drop through the floor.

> after the rent prices drop through the floor

Ha, I wish. The market might cool off, but it's like saying it will be great moving to Manhattan once rent there becomes dirt cheap. Barring catastrophic events (e.g., war, a confluence of epic natural disasters, an alien invasion), not in our lifetimes.