> data on the price of housing going back to the 1600s

Care to share a link to this data (or at least a pointer to where is comes from)? I'd be interested to know where this came from because my first reaction is to distrust the accuracy/validity of such data.

That being said, how valid is data going that far back (in relation to now)? Isn't the political as well as economic landscape completely different now? I'm not saying you're necessarily wrong, just that I'm not really sure if you can apply that data as a proof.