I was about to spend over half a million dollars but that extra $50 pushed me over the limit 
Haha. Not too far from the truth though. People buy half a million dollar houses and then get concerned about a $600 bill coming in at one time to fill up the oil tank.
Almost 60% live paycheque to paycheque.So with a home ownership rate of 70%, that means ~40% of home owners live paycheque to paycheque. This is where the danger lies. A favourite argument for the housing bulls is that most people don't need to sell, and that is true. But there are many that cannot afford to carry any negative cashflow rentals during a downturn, and if they experience a personal economic shock have no recourse. Those are the people that drive a market like this one.