Hi Ida,
It's been a few months since you asked your question, but if you haven't yet bought a home, here are my thoughts on the local market specific to Fallbrook/Bonsall area. I am a Realtor here in Fallbrook where I also live with my family so I am very aware as to what is going on here.
Prices are falling and continue to fall in SOME price ranges. Homes on the upper end are not being lowered mainly because of people in your exact situation...they are looking for retirement homes and when they find the perfect one, they buy it. The lower end homes, the bank owned homes are dropping in price--from 200k to about 500k, they have to in order to compete with the other homes on the market. The mid range priced homes at 500k-800k are feeling the crunch, but not lowering as quickly. The higher end-800k and above are not dropping much at all. Especially over 1 million--most of these home owners are not desperate to sell and would prefer to just wait for the perfect buyer who loves their home rather than drop the price considerably. This is not to say that home owners will not accept lower offers than what their home is listed for--they may, but the general consensus around here is to wait it out.

If I were you, I'd start looking.....(if you havent already), and if you find the perfect home, make an offer that you can live with in the long term. Or better yet, find a great house in a short sale situation--especially if you are not in a hurry. A short sale is a great opportunity to get a good buy in this market--especially if the market continues to deflate...and there are more and more short sales lately. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Good luck.

THE TIME TO BUY IS NOW is the general response from most Realtors.

Realtors are seeing fewer commissions checks because homes are just not selling.

The current inventory of homes FOR SALE is a 10.8 months. Price are falling in all areas from Manhattan to Hawaii .

YES prices are not as soft in some areas, but buyers are not in waiting to BUY NOW.

So I should BUY NOW and watch prices FALL farther until at least the summer of 2009. NO WAY not even in the once SKY ROCKETING and once very strong Hawaii Market. Sales are slow on all of the Islands on homes from $500k to $25 million.

Good Luck

Everyone has an opinion on the real estate market. Realtors do not make 6% on each transaction. In California, according the CA Association of Realtors, sales are way up and pricing is down. Will it continue to go down? Who can predict? The other side of the equation is that there are many good homes for sale right now and buyers are getting exceptional deals. Interests rates are still good, but they have been rising. That is a big factor. If prices go down, but interest rates go up, housing on a per month basis gets more expensive. Like the stock market, it is practically impossible to know when to buy at the bottom or when the top has come to sell. If this is the right time for you, the right house and the right price and you plan to live in the house a while, why not go for it? Be aggressive in your offers. You never know what kind of deal you will get. I have a listing in Fallbrook and we getting lots of showing ---we even received an offer in the first week. There are buyers out there - they have not stopped buying. I know this is an unsettling time. Just go with your very own comfort zone....Please let me know if I can be of any help. Good luck to you...Maria Weiss