Theodor de Bry’s 1590 engraving of Secoton, from John White’s watercolors. Public domain.
Around 2006, American house prices stopped rising.
If money is tight, the lender who was eager last year is a different person this year.
If you are in the middle, a purchase planned on last year's comparable sale is a bet that just expired.
If you have savings, a second home or a rental counted at the peak is a number, not cash.
National house prices peaked around 2006 and then fell for years.
The decline was not called on a single morning.
It showed up as a house that sat, a refinance that failed, and a neighborhood where the for-sale signs stayed up.
Source: S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price peak around 2006.