"Just dont make sense to this simple mind - they must have had a housing glut or something. If no housing glut then rents should be thru the roof - if rents are thru the roof then buying a house should be affordable. "
They probably had a housing glut aided by a credit glut, unfortunately there was always a money shortage(low/no assets)
Now they have a bigger money/asset shortage(and rising unemployment), a credit shortage(credit unavailable) which in turn creates a bigger housing glut(no demand).
