There's No Way the US is Like Japan!

Experts say that there is no way that the US will follow the same path as Japan. One reason is that our demographics are different -- Japan is the world's oldest developed nation (and won't get better anytime soon), the US is much younger, and those young people are better GDP-producing citizens. Also, retired folks tend to not buy bigger houses or produce little future house-buyers.

Japan has faced two lost decades littered with deflation and massive de-leveraging following their housing bubble burst in the early '90s (that was when the Tokyo Imperial Palace grounds were worth more than the real estate of California). There are other reasons experts cite, and I'll raise those at a later date.

Here's a comparison of Japan's pre- and post-bubble price-action vs. the US (overlaid to show that there's no way the US and Japan are similar):

Here is a 10-year chart of some California cities from Zillow:

Hopefully you bought a house over 10 years ago, otherwise, you're probably underwater.

Don't forget to factor in inflation (hint: it doesn't make the outcome better, in fact, it makes it much worse):

Source: http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/japan-asset-bubble-real-estate-values-two-lost-decades-trade-deficit-us-home-values-track/

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_asset_price_bubble

Source: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/

Source: http://www.zillow.com/local-info/CA-home-value/r_9/