[refurb]

If there are 150M homes in the US and suddenly only 5M have the cash to buy them, what do you think would happen to prices?

The inverse has already happened - the US gov't backs mortgages, allows 30 year terms, etc. All that does is drive up prices because everyone's purchasing power increases.

[evanlivingston]

I believe prices would fall a small amount and then foreign and domestic investors would swoop in buy them all up, much like what's happening in Vancouver, BC.