For starters the housing bubble should never have occured due to immigration and interest rate interference which has overblown the construction industry.
If you have been doing it for years you have problems because you are competing with people/other workers that shouldn't be in it because it was pumped up too greatly.
If you are new to the industry you have been sold a red herring. It is cyclical and some of these booms don't last particularly areas where demand is false due to things like excessive immigration.
If you where doing a trade in the mining industry that is different because it is largely caused by market fundamentals and therefore more sound in terms of the length of the cycle.
If you don't want to work oversesas, you may need to do a different trade or as I said apply what you know in say mining or infrastructure etc..
Labor largely created this problem by protectionist policies in housing including land and immigration pumping up housing though not to mention media fueled programs , banks etc.. which excessively fueled investment in housing. In a normal world you buy a house to live in an you invest generally speaking in other assets or activities for greater returns.
