TKO

Home buyers who bought the "median priced single-family" home at the 1979 peak are now under water.

Here's why this is misleading.

It's inflation adjusted. A home purchased in 1979 at 2.5% inflation over the past 20 years would be worth 110% higher in nominal value today. Although your real home value has not increased since then, because you are paying a mortgage on the price of the home 20 years ago, your mortgage rate most likely has not increased substantially since then either. The only thing you've lost here is opportunity cost because the nominal value of your home is still 110% higher.

Saying that people who purchased a home in 1979 is underwater is severely misleading because of this.