The demand for housing will rebound when people are sure they have employment.
And it will rebound when the banks are sure their loans can be repaid.
That will happen when the economy as a whole rebounds. In the meantime, low prices are an opportunity for some that won’t happen again in their lifetimes.
The quickest way to bring the economy back is to quit monkeying with it. Investment requires the kind of certainty you can never have as long as the government keeps changing the rules of the road. Once the rules stop changing, investment will pick up and employment will pick up and the housing market will come back.
The “other” quickest way to bring the economy back is to make a focused effort to make this country energy independent. Steam-roll any regulations that get in the way of energy projects. We spend half a trillion a year buying transportation fuels from overseas. When we start spending a bigger chunk of that here, this economy will turn around so fast our heads will spin.
I'd add that pricing must be parity with what the available jobs in the area will sustain via cash or financing. If people are employed but competing with 3rd world salaries, the current prices will only diminish for lack of demand.
The obama regime has made it clear they do not feel the concept of capitalism leads to prosperity. They are actively working to redesign how the economy works via socialist models.
I don't see this leading to a recovery. I see it leading to another Venezuela/Argentina scenario.