well, it's difficult to predict on the one hand.
on the other hand, it is easy to predict that: when the average joe holds "home ownership" up as the sterling example of "making it"; then the average politician will determine that the best way to make voters happy is to increase home ownership by lowering barriers, and exempting home ownership from risk, taxes, estates, bankruptcy, medical expenses, etc. all in the name of "obvious" fairness;
then [it's easy to predict that]: mortgages and mortgage backed institutions will become unsound.
TL;DR a crisis like this is going to happen again, and it happened before, see previous "savings and loan" crisis.
bonus lesson in finance/accounting: if the problem is framed and worded properly, it's easy to see that money paid for rent is not actually "wasted money down the drain", and that it is a fallacy that it is better to put the money toward a mortgage.
Let's say out of college you live in your old room at mom's while you save money to get your own place. Your job turns out well and you're making good money, but instead of renting your own apt, you stay at mom's to save for a down payment on a first house. You save up, and you buy a place. OK so far?
Now owning your own place, do you move into it? Well, think about it, you could stay at mom's and rent this new place you own out to somebody else and let them "waste the rent" while you collect all this fingerquotes "free money". Id est, i.e., if you move into your new place, you are essentially depriving yourself of the rent that you are entitled to earn from it; you effectively pay rent to live in your owned home. You are the one "wasting the rent money".
And the extra details actually work against you: mortgage interest expense is tax deductible, right? Well, if you rent the place out, ALL expenses are tax deductible, that's more deductions than if you live in a place.
As an additional point, is rent "such a waste of money to the tenant" that wealthy people (let's use Bill Gates as an example) buy lots and lots of houses and apartments to rent out to the rental suckers? no, they don't.
TL;DR purely financially, owning is not better than renting; rent is not wasted money, at least not more than the fingerquotes rent you spend when you live in your own place.