The amount of people, earning very good money, that I hear talking about waiting to get paid before they can do this or buy that is scary. I don't know how they live like that.
If I didn't have a 6 month (minimum) buffer in case of an accident or unforeseen event I would feel very uneasy.
And as for historical, so much has changed, from financial deregulation to double incomes being the norm, lower for longer interest rates. I agree, very difficult to compare.
I think the boom has already halted, which is good.