The housing market has gone through several booms and busts in the U.S. I'll restrict to U.S. viewpoint since it's the only country I am educated on this topic.

The housing market has gone through several booms and busts in the U.S. I'll restrict to U.S. viewpoint since it's the only country I am educated on this topic. In every single case, the root cause was unchecked financial speculation. The most major busts by year: 1837 - caused by land speculation, driven by the gold rush 1873 - caused by land speculation, driven by railroad companies and their investors 1929 - caused by a stock market bubble 2008 - caused by widespread mortgage fraud and speculation on the housing market