The current houses are unaffordable for the poor who have already given up, while the rich buy purely for investment purposes. A slight drop in housing prices still makes them unaffordable for the poor, but the rich will abandon purchases due to a lack of expected price increases; a significant drop in housing prices might make them affordable for the poor, but most banks would be dragged down by a wave of mortgage defaults.

The current real estate market is similar to the stock market, only a bull market can attract investors to increase trading volume, while price declines will instead turn the market into a stagnant pool.