You'd prefer to share ownership of a property with an ex-spouse, potentially for years, rather than sell for the market price? I don't think most would agree.

You'd prefer to share ownership of a property with an ex-spouse, potentially for years, rather than sell for the market price? I don't think most would agree. There are just as many examples of real estate stagnating or depreciating over the course of 5 years as there are it appreciating by $500k. We shouldn't treat the last 10 years as typical for any residential real estate market. It wasn't that long ago that a typical real estate cycle was 17 years peak-to-peak. The Fed can't intervene and keep rates artificially low and buy up tens of billions in mortgages each month forever. In a market where a cycle is 17 years, 5 years at the beginning of a downturn is nothing. And that's wasted opportunity, especially for experienced investors.