Yes, I agree.
The premise of those loans was based on the theory that home prices would continue to rise rapidly.
Thus, after 2 years, the “value” of your home might be 15% or 20% above the price you originally “paid” for it.
That increase in value would be viewed as “equity” by your lender.
Thus, in theory, you could qualify for a “normal” mortgage with “normal” interest rates and “normal” monthly payments.
When home prices began to go down - BOOM - the entire financial premise for millions of loans exploded, and people just walked away, from their homes and their mortgages.
Even in theory, some of them could never work.
I heard about one particularly egregious case in which a dishwasher making $7 per hour ($14000 per year) got a loan on a $700000 house.
Even at zero interest, zero insurance and zero property taxes, paying that off in 30 years would be nearly $2000 per month.
Nobody can afford a house payment that’s twice their monthly gross.