Home prices did not go anywhere near as crazy in the 80s and 90s as they did in the 00s. The decline was nowhere near as dramatic in the 90s because valuation never got as nuts.
Case Shiller Home Prices | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
It's not always about politics.
The magnitude is not very important. What is important is what happened to correct the situation. In 1990 the gov't took over failed S&Ls and auctioned their inventories. In 2008 the gov't propped up homeowners and bailed out banks.
There's the difference right there.
The magnitude is most definitely important. That's what financial market and economic history tells us. The larger the bubble, the greater the crash. It's arguable that the Housing Bubble was the biggest asset bubble in US history, given the discrepancy from intrinsic valuations and ubiquity of ownership.
Think economics and finance, not politics.
The greater the crash, the stronger the recovery.
That's supposed to be how it works.
And how do you determine "intrinsic worth" of a house, which is a unique item? It is worth what someone will pay for it. Not more, not less.