It has been over five years since the financial crisis, but all the progress could be washed away overnight if the government defaults on its debt. Per Real Estate Economy Watch:

All the progress that the housing recovery has achieved since the crashed could be erased overnight if the US defaults on its debts, according to the president of the National Association of Realtors.

In testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, NAR president Gary Thomas said that unless the debt ceiling is raised in “a timely manner,” the country would face a recession that would wipe out the recent progress made in home prices, home sales and new residential construction.

But Thomas is not alone in his stance.

Robert Dietz, vice president for Tax and Market Analysis for the National Association of Homebuilders, says the primary effect of a default or downgrade would be increased uncertainty. “Home buyers are making purchase of a capital asset that they will own, on average, for ten years. Given other sources of uncertainty, particularly from the labor market, the largest impact from a failure to reach a deal that increases the debt ceiling would be to further increase concern and anxiety of families attempting to make long-term economic decisions.