No doubt they have been shocked to the core at how an investment...

No doubt they have been shocked to the core at how an investment as solid as bricks & morter, 'a sure thing', can unravel horribly. There is this ingrained belief in Aus too, that once you have property, you are financially like a one hundred year old tree rooted in the ground. Nothing will knock you over.
Housing equity though is a dangerous illusion - like margin lending in stocks. Great while things are on the rise but a killer when things come to a plateau - and much much worse when they decline.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/25/AR2010082506801_2.html

"When the state of the housing market improves, we need to resist going back to our old way of playing down a home as a liability. The latest home sales figures are further evidence that the so-called equity in your home isn't a sure thing on your personal balance sheet. This should be one of the great lessons from the economic downturn."