Interesting that you bring up the 80's.  I recently saw a chart detailing home affordability based on wages, interest rates and house prices.  Rates were falling in the 80's as a bout of inflation was being tamed.  House prices started to soar.   In Toronto, last year we passed the peak unaffordability index that was reached in 1989.   An average detached home in 1989 was roughly $250K and annual interest carrying costs at 12% were $30,000.  Fast forward to 2016 and an average detached is $1.5M.   Annual interest fees at 3% are $45,000.    

Interest rates have a clear inverse correlation with home prices.