Lure of easy money? Sounds more like one of the oldest sales tricks in the world....”Buy now while you still can.”
In the discussion upthread on whether a house is a commodity or not, mine is a home. I have lived in it for over 20 years, we raised the kids there, it's paid for, it is NOT a commodity. That's not how it's viewed by far too many.
From the article: “There’s been a huge shift in the way people view their houses,” says John Karevoll of DataQuick Information Systems. “Your house now can basically be used as an ATM.”