The big question here is whether real estate, which comprises the biggest slice of personal wealth is real wealth, and this is something I believe will be played out over the next two decades. It will be interesting to see how many will be willing to compromise life style in retirement, by releasing home equity to generate income. Will moving from a SFH to a condo do it, or will moving to another state, or country become necessary. Taxes and health care costs will be a major factor in those decisions, but I believe many who thought they were building wealth in their homes, may have underestimated how that wealth will maintain them. Ultimately, this is what the bubble was all about.
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