Many saw the peak when it was occurring. Many will note the bottom as it occurs. We aren't there yet--but we are closer than we were a year ago. ;-)
As for Kurt's example, if you need to sell when it drops to $275k, not only did the house drop in value by $25k, but you also lost your closing costs of 2-3% of the original purchase price, plus you paid 6% commission to sell the house. So, the 10% or so drop in value actually results in about a 17% plus loss of cash.
In addition, in Kurt's example, the $325k price in five years assumes appreciation (which is unlikely in this market for quite some time) and even with such appreciation, you would still only be close to breakeven after considering real estate commissions on a sale in five years.
Only buy if you have enough money to take a big cash loss ast the bottom is not in sight.
I actually think if you want to make money in this market you can do quite well if you are patient and know what you are doing. Bottoms are for Herds.