Alternatively you end up with more empty housing poor to middling people can't afford while a bigger portion of society has the life sucked out of them by housing costs work 2nd jobs spend less time with their kids or on self improvement. Save less. Crash harder during down turns etc.
Speculators will eventually mark to market and sell or rent their empty houses. It might take a while, but it's a big country. Housing is illiquid on a small scale, but is a fairly efficient market on the national level. Except for the zoning rules, of course. That's the nice thing about living in the US or a Schengen country. It's easy to move to where the economy is better.
