If you think that the cost of oil doesn't have very direct impacts on the value (and expense) of housing, think again.
Commute costs, viable living distance, heating and cooling bills, construction costs, amenities (pools, landscaping, toys including boats and RVs), and consumer goods are all directly tied to energy costs.
Housing is an expensive, illiquid, geographically fixed investment. You're investing not only in the property and structure, but the neighborhood, local job markets, and/or anticipated commute costs.
Oil prices have had a very direct effect on the present and future value of suburban and exurban housing. Both positive (in the era of cheap energy, 1945 - 1974), and negative (as prices increased from the 1970 oil shocks onward).
