WHEN will prices start to decline?

What is your best advice to a Home Buyer who says they want to wait until prices to come to buy? A MA. agent referred a buyer to me that they were having trouble finding them a home here in the Manchester NH Area. I met with the buyer right away and went over their pre qual letter, locations, price range, their needs and wish list. This First time buyer then said they will buy once prices go down??? 

As values are increasing at a slow but steady pace here. There is a shortage of homes for sale in some areas. The amount of buyers has been strong and steady. My reply was; "So you are not ready to buy now? The buyer in a louder voice said, no, we have to move soon as their job has been relocated to the Manchester area. 

They were told that they should rent to own or wait out the market. Both were bad advice as there is virtually no rent to own homes, as sellers can simply sell them and do not need to rent them. As far as waiting out the market.... I let them know that when prices do decline, i hope they know that mean we are heading into a recession and that is not in our immediate future. 

I decided it was best to start over with them. I went over the market here in NH which is different from MA which they first looked. You can get a bigger home on more land here for sure. After going over their wish list I pulled up some homes for sale. There were a couple of new listings that were priced quite competitive. Both met what the buyer wanted, needed and desired. The buyer fell back into his speech of "values falling." I had to outright tell him his theory was flawed and he got some bad advice. When buying a home you want the value to increase, not decrease. Mrs. buyer was understanding and with palm to head, she scalded Mr. Buyer.

In summary they went to see those 2 homes. They loved both. In the mean time they met with one of my local and trusted lenders who was pre approving them. They made a good over and it was accepted. They are so happy that i told them how it really is and they have found their dream home. A newer home, great neighborhood, wonderful schools, large lot and about half of what the home would have cost in CT. they said.