A majority of "normal" buyers in the past couple of years have been millennials. Sure there are cash buyers and corporate buyers but outside of that, this has been younger buyers stretching their budgets while interest rates are low. A crash in housing prices while the jobs market cools could easily end in disaster for them.
Millennials have so far been a bi-modal generation in terms of economic outcomes. Effectively going through college debt birth lottery, and a career lottery.
If your a millennial who managed to get through the lottery and have assets, then you are likely heavy in housing and stocks. If assets crash, these individuals will lose out - but ultimately be at the same point as their peers who never accumulated assets.
It will add yet another economic catastrophe to the list, as people generally form businesses in their 40s and 50s we likely wont see much in the way of SMB formation.
It would likely trigger larger economic shifts that could cause job loss, tank the market, etc. Hard to buy homes if you have no income or have your investments obliterated before you can sell.
