I think you're right, I can't honestly see prices dropping to what people want for the next few years. A mining crash dumping lots of used stock into the market would help, but only those after used cards. Manufacturers know that customers are willing to pay for what they want in enough volume for it to be sustainable. And the stigma around used mining cards will keep the new prices high.
So it will be down to each individual to decide how much they are prepared to swallow in the current market for the performance and features they desire. And for the foreseeable future.
The only 'hope' (and yes, I use that term loosely) is that you can still buy a top performing gpu at last years msrp. Now whether you believe msrp is good value.....