A big factor people miss is that many real estate markets and labor markets are heavily correlated. There's often a few major employers or a few productive sect

A big factor people miss is that many real estate markets and labor markets are heavily correlated. There's often a few major employers or a few productive sectors that write paychecks in the area, which then drives rental and housing prices in the area. So, housing is often an asset with a large positive correlation with your future wages. There's good historical examples here - Detroit around 2008 had simultaneous drops in real estate prices and automotive sector employment.