I think we need to start thinking more clearly about real estate as a combination of two things: structure (depreciating) and land.
Land behaves very different from other assets, because there is a finite amount of it, and it generates economic rent. And the increase in land value generally comes actions not of the owner, but of others, and of the government deciding what is allowed on the land (which happens at the local level, where a small cabal of landowners can exert great influence over a small number of officials making decisions).
And unlike speculation on, say, lumber futures, speculation on land by buying it and hoarding it is actually a huge economic damper. Real estate speculation, by holding a property underdeveloped until it can be sold for maximum profit, creates a land bubble because it withholds productive use of that finite resource that everybody is trying to get.
The best way to solve this would be to, IMHO, tax away all the economic rents that land generates. This removes the speculation, and ensures that every piece of property that is being underutilized will get transferred to someone who can better use it. This will keep housing prices down, because more houses will be built in high demand areas. It's a tax that would greatly improve economic efficiency, housing affordability, and our overall productivity. (It does need to be paired with zoning reform, though).
We also need to reinvigorate our construction sector's productivity, and reduce the shocks to it from the boom bust cycle, but that takes different policy.