I also think that a lot of those refinancing offers and home equity loans that are heavily advertised on the radio had a lot to do with our current housing situation. I say that because appraisers were writing appraisals to meet the customers needs and not reality. Lots of folks took out second mortgages and many of them risky ones like ARMs or interest only loans. Granted, dipshits like Barney Frank didn’t help the situation at all by forcing banks to make loans to unqualified people. There is enough blame to pass all the way around the table here, yet many tax payers who played by the rules and paid their mortgage are going to be on the hook for those who did not.
But at the bottom was governmental interference - Clinton, Greenspan, etc. They clearly encouraged - mandated even - banks to take the risks they did.