If you are expecting a drastic decline in housing, you can hedge by holding financial derivatives that increase in value when the market declines. e.g. NYSE: REK, SRS, DRV. This will decrease your downside exposure for the cost of the ETF (in this case) management fee. In other words, housing market insurance. Note that it will also cap upside as any gains in housing prices going forward would be offset by losses in the derivative. Such is hedging. The portion of your investment that you leave unhedged depends on your risk appetite. As of now it sounds like you are 100% unhedged and you aren't comfortable with that.
I'm not a financial adviser. This is just food for thought.