Quite right Pericles, the crazy lending set the US up for the disaster.
China went even further by building not just whole suburbs but whole cities !

The average working man in the US was just sitting there waiting to be
detonated.
Like all recessions when a spike in oil prices occurred about a year
later a recession arrives. This happens because that average bloke is
faced with a choice, buy petrol to go to work, buy food for the kids
or pay the mortgage.
That was the choice in 2007 & 2008.

And the rest is history.

Pericles,

Various countries have had their ponzie schemes with housing and real estate, but Australia’s ponzie scheme involves the mining boom and immigration.

The mining boom provided a quick boost to the income of many people, who were willing or able to pay extra for housing, thereby boosting its price.

Although I don’t know how a real estate agent can lie straight in bed after selling people substandard and almost unliveable houses in suburban jungles, (but they seem to have mastered that art).

Added to the stew is consecutive governments bringing in vast numbers of immigrants who needed housing when they got here. This boosted employment in the building and construction industry, while filling the pockets of real estate agents and those investing in housing.

All seemed well until mining has gone off the boil, and there are now only 146,000 job vacancies in Australia with 720,000 people unemployed.

This is the legacy of our own housing and real estate ponzie scheme.