Also, don’t forget that many of the financial geniuses (I unfortunately must include myself in this group) who have been waiting to purchase a home have had their down payments reduced because they had some portion of it in stocks. Even if they didn’t have any of their down payment in stocks, they probably had a lot of their retirement portfolio in stocks and that value is now much less. When lenders look at these borrowers balance sheets, they will be hesitant to lend as much as they would have before because they have fewer assets now.
