This nation has gone through more PANICS,RESESSIONS, DEPRESSIONS, etc.,than most on this site know about. There have also been boom times,when people's property has sky rocketed and the took the money and ran;or didn't. The point is,that comparisons of things,in today's dollars,with those of other times, is patently ridiculous.
I was guesstimating the equivalence and I bet I'm more correct than whatever net calculator you found on line. LOL
Certain areas of this country have more real estate spikes than others. California,for example, has, in the last several decades crazier house prices than most other areas.
There are far more people who own their own house today ( yes, mortgaged and people have ALWAYS bought houses on mortgages! In colonial times,when a mortgage was paid off,the mortgage was burned and an ivory disc was placed into the newel post of the stairway as proof that the house was now free and clear. ) than at ANY other time in the history of this country.
Okay, we're in agreement. Except on the mortgage point. Yes, people have always had mortgages, but now they have this new thing -- interest only mortgages -- which are patently insane. Basically, you buy the house/condo/co-op and pay only the interest on the mortgage.
What this had to is people buying properties they simply cannot afford.
When prices crash -- and they will -- the banks are gonna take a beating. And when banks take a beating, they like to spread the pain around as much as possible.