It's doing all the legwork - SFRs are negative cash flow, and the only reason to hold negative cash flow properties at the absolutely horrendous cap rates they have is because of appreciation.

But appreciation cannot go on forever or each property will be infinitely expensive and nobody will be able to afford them. It is a dance that will end at some point.

Australia is a fantastic image of what happens in that process, and they don't show much sign of slowing, being even worse than the States' issues.

It can certainly go a lot longer than people will expect, and it will have weird side-effects (California also gives some hints, what with huge appreciation and prop 13).

The biggest hurdle now is the jump from renter (or living with parents) to homeowner; there used to be "starter homes" that could get you on the treadmill but even those are quite high.

Once you're on the treadmill it's not that bad as house prices in an area tend to be in lockstep, but that first step can be a big one.

Or, the end result is a separation of lords and serfs, where the very few that can buy houses own all of them and no one else does.