Outsourcing is putting downward pressure on white collar jobs, while illegal immigration is putting downard pressue on blue collar jobs. The “jobs Americans won’t do” cliche is totally bogus. What happened is that the illegals have depressed wages so much, that Americans are not willing to work for that wage. If you pay someone the market wage, you will get plenty of applicants. Econ101. The point is that wages are stagnant or declining, and there is no reason to think they will go up. Real hourly wages are the leading indicator of consumer spending, and I assume, for home purchases as well. Until wages go up, people can’t pay more for housing, regardless of how loose the lenders want to get.