TG: Well put. Well reasoned, too, and that is what has been missing for about the last five years or so: Reason.

People lost their minds and actually came to believe that their houses would replace their jobs and savings and somehow even provide retirement income for them.

I think that the state of the economy (state and national) has injected a sobering new reality into nearly everyone’s life and people are starting to see things the way they really are, or will become shortly. The example you used of your home’s previous owners illustrates that pretty clearly. Should have bought a $200k home, but bought a $650k home and learned the hard way.