You're comparing housing prices to rents. In that bubble they disconnected. During the bubble you could rent houses and apartments for around half the monthly mortgage. My friends and I were renting a million dollar house for 2200/month.

To be fair, we could say you 'cherry picked' by selecting the 20 year mark. It's just as cherry picked as picking the peak: it's a discrete moment in time, compared to the present, in either case.