[maxtower]

Were people saying in 1947 that home prices had gone up too much and were due for a fall? It did correct over the next couple years, but not all the way back down.
Has there been a fundamental shift in the way homes are bought today that increased demand to a point that prices are now higher?
Perhaps the securitization of housing debt loans has allowed more people to get financing without the traditional 20% down, leading to more demand? A lot of that debt is now defaulting, but I am sure there are a lot of borrowers who have jobs that allow them to make the payments, but they were previously unable to come up with the 20% down. I agree that housing prices seem too high today, but I don't know that we'll see them drop in half to get back to the 100 level on the chart. Maybe they'll drop 10% across the country. And as the above posters pointed out people are getting more home for a dollar today as well. Not only bigger houses, but I suspect a lot of higher quality materials are going into more lavish kitchens and bathrooms these days as well.