Homes are bigger and better New-home prices today are 56 percent higher, inflation-adjusted, than they were in 1980, while existing-home prices have risen 49 percent. That may be tough for home buyers, but, said Andrew Leventis, an economist with the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, homes today are larger, have more bathrooms and in some ways are safer. "You may be getting more for your buck," he said.

It's easier to buy There are also more homeowners today, in large part because home buying is easier than ever. In the 1970s, "you had two choices for a mortgage: fixed rate or fixed rate," said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of mortgage-information publisher HSH. The only question was the length of your loan. Plus, you couldn't buy unless you'd saved at least enough to put 20 percent down.

If you felt squeezed financially 30 years ago and needed to take out a second mortgage, "it was whispered about," Gumbinger said.

Home equity is up According to Federal Reserve statistics, Americans on average own less of their homes than they used to. In 1973, average home equity was 69 percent versus 54.1 percent in 2006. But on an inflation-adjusted basis, given the rise in home prices, the average homeowner's equity today is worth $43,000 more than the 1973 homeowner's equity.

It's cheaper to borrow Lastly, loan rates today are lower on average. In 1973, the average interest rate on a mortgage for an existing home was 8.01 percent. As of August this year, it was 6.81 percent, according to National Association of Realtors (NAR).