People didn't "buy houses they couldn't afford". They bought houses who's value was 40-50% inflated I don't understand the distinction. If you pay half a milli

People didn't "buy houses they couldn't afford". They bought houses who's value was 40-50% inflated I don't understand the distinction. If you pay half a million bucks for a house, and you can't afford to pay half a million bucks for a house, you're buying something you can't afford. As for "40-50% inflated", well, there's no "natural" value for a house, and they're worth whatever people are willing to pay for 'em.