You’ve got it backwards when it comes to residential real estate. More people become renters during a recession. Vacancies reduced dramatically after 2008.
An underlying pandemic throws most of the historical data out the window.
Just ask Hertz, AMC and Las Vegas.
I'm sure many/most landlords are still rooted in reality and are still using the infamous investing formula of "where there are losers, there are winners" (aka buy low, sell high).