Scooterbug, if you are waiting until the properties bought during the market's peak, to sell at a profit, before you deem it a recovery, your idea of recovery may take a long time, and by that time, all the good deals will be dreams of the past. Your definition seems to think of "bottoming" and "recovering" as being very far apart, with "recovery" meaning selling for profit. That's fine, but each seller will have a unique definition of when that is, depending on what day they purchased.
For me, "recovery" of the market means getting sales (quantity) back up to reasonable levels, seeing the inventory levels back down to reasonable levels, seeing buyers and sellers coming together on price, and getting back to fundamentals of numbers working, eg- cash flowing properties.
Profits and losses are a different subject.