The "normal market" I described existed in most mid-sized and large US cities up until about 2002. There are a couple special cities like New York, where the "

The "normal market" I described existed in most mid-sized and large US cities up until about 2002. There are a couple special cities like New York, where the "normal market" hasn't existed for a long time; one might conclude that the rent-vs-buy calculations are being done on a multigenerational basis. Renting is still quite a bit cheaper than buying in many regions. This is because the crash isn't done yet. Give it another 3-5 years.