People complaining about drops in real estate prices has always struck me as somewhat analogous to the guy who goes to Vegas with a $10,000 bankroll.
He gets it up to $100,000 and then loses all but $8000.
Did he lose $92,000 or $2,000?
My experience has been that when people make money on real estate investments it’s because of their own enormous acumen. When they lose money it’s because of the banks, or the Arabs (or Jews), or the Republicans.
I have also always been fascinated that the same people who think it’s immoral to sell a barrel of oil at a profit are always enormously proud of themselves when they sell their house at a big profit.