Another factor about the “good old days” when people had to have 20% down:
Accumulating that 20% meant a few years of saving–an alien concept for today’s consumers. Saving meant budgeting, watching your expenditures, having the satisfaction of seeing that nest egg grow, and forming habits over several years time that did not go away once one bought the house. That self-discipline and the ability to defer gratification is missing today and will have to be relearned.
In fact, perhaps a few years of truly gut-wrenching austerity imposed upon Americans by a deep, deep recession will have its beneficial effects.
As George Carlin liked to say “It’s just stuff”.
