Current house-buying strategy in an environment of falling prices?

Was the situation (significantly) better in the last decade?

My feeling is that the sellers are now basically waiting for interest rates to drop again and for the competition among potential buyers to really heat up once more, so that people, out of "fear" that interest rates might rise again, will outbid each other even further and at all costs buy the old stuff at completely overpriced prices.

I am not currently watching the market for long. The last time I observed it "properly" was 10 years ago, [...] Was the situation significantly better in the last decade?

The situation is currently incomparably unstable ...

My feeling is that the sellers are now basically waiting for interest rates to drop again and for the competition among potential buyers to really heat up once more,

... and my impression is rather that the market weather would still be the most accurate description with "daily climate." Pessimists and optimists chase each other over tables, benches, and chairs; sunrises and sunsets are partly expected simultaneously. Will the traffic light coalition hold and/or will Trump come back before or after Musk goes bankrupt ... oh, how I miss Ulrich Wickert’s sign-off: the weather.