Homes should be depreciating assets, like in Japan, and like every other item. Furniture depreciates (with few exceptions, like antiques). Clothes, motor vehicles, electronics, carpets, gym equipment, lawn mowers: name it. With rare exceptions, everything depreciates over time. That's how it should be.

But what about mortgages ending up underwater? Well, that's life. And if home prices were low enough, it wouldn't be a concern. I don't expect to turn a profit on the above items. I buy them for their intrinsic utility, not as a speculative instrument, an investment vehicle, or a way to finance my future retirement. So should it be with housing. If you want to save for retirement, open a 401K, a Roth IRA, and a non registered account. Small time landlords are okay. There is a market need for rental units. But corporate landlords need to be broken up.