my feeling is the market is slowing across the board... my neighbor is selling and thinks comps from 2010 when there was housing credits + thoughts the economy was improving are still good today. they are not. I'm trying to sell and am thinking I'll be lucky to get $300/ft for my newer build Irvine condo.
"worth to buy" is subjective, because it depends on your situation. i have a growing family and i am looking to move soon, so if i find the right place then i could be "worth to buy". im planning for the next to be the last. if i can lock a nice 30yr fixed, and have a nice reasonable payment, ill be happy even if i'm not "buying at the bottom".
if you want to play the market timing game, then the market is soft, and looks like it will be soft for some time to come. I know a lot of people looking to buy (around same age with growing families), but out of 12 couples, only 2 have pulled the trigger. One purchased a 2500sq ft home in La Palma for $550K, and the other an Eichler home up in the valley (he REALLY likes Eichlers), so he overpaid (knowingly) a bit for it. Other than that, you have a lot of people waiting, waiting, waiting. All of said people have between $150K-300K in down payment savings. Most people are happy to rent right now. People who think rents are increasing rapidly are smoking crack. They are just lazy shoppers. There are a lot of people who own town homes looking for good tenants. My buddy rented the townhouse around the corner from me. $2K for 3BR/3BA, 1500 sq ft. I don't think that's bad at all (no HOA/ no taxes)...