In Spain we call this "burbuja inmobiliaria". Neither governments nor firms studied enough the markets. Now they have a lot of houses without buyers. People left good jobs and their studies to go working in construction, without being enough demand. When the bubble exploded, there were a lot of labour hand without job, so they lost their jobs. Many people who had bought a flat or a house were unable to pay their mortgages, so the bank took them off (here you must go on paying the mortgage, even if you have not your dwelling). All the economy fell down. Whenever there is a "bubble" (I don't know if this is the correct word in English), when it explodes, everything falls.
There should be more economists in the governments to avoid such things, and good ones, of course.
