Housing is supposed to have ups and downs, it's supposed to be a long term investment, to be able to recoup. At least that's what it was before capital gains and negative gearing, and many other policies that have been stacking the game. There's supposed to be a buyers market and a sellers market, and you're supposed to know which you're in. Historically, even if you sold in a sellers market, you still made money, because Housing always appreciates, just usually slowly (until the game stacking). So nobody lost out, really. These same policies that stack the game, also cause an uneven keel for all involved. To even get back to solid ground, we're going to need to let house prices stagnate for decades to catch up to the overinflation, whilst also increasing public housing stock. Neither of which are proposed any time soon.