Last night Calculated Risk embedded this hilarious SNL skit Don't buy stuff you cannot afford:

I remembered seeing the skit and was curious when it first aired. A bit of research on the tv.com website gave me the date: February 4th 2006. With this in mind, let's have another look at the S&P Case-Shiller Index.

So now we understand what caused the collapse of the housing market. Everyone watched this episode of Saturday Night Live and stopped buying houses they couldn't afford.