Where the heck are you living that your house's value increased by an order of magnitude over 20 years. I live in one of the hottest real estate markets in the

Where the heck are you living that your house's value increased by an order of magnitude over 20 years. I live in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, I bought in 1999 and my house is just barely under doubling in value. If not for the mess of 2008 it might have been worth more, since it was about where it is now before that crash. But I can't think of any place where people have seen an order of magnitude increase in 20 years. Over a longer period (essentially a lifetime) I'm sure that's a possibility. So I suspect you've simply chosen your time period poorly.