Condos built at breakneck pace to satisfy demand driven largely by spec rather than need, it's kind of hard to think of those as assets right now (figuratively speaking, of course). The biggest problem is that 'always-rising value' part - that was a complete myth, at least at the pace that was being seen and assumed would continue.

Businesses probably are fundamentally riskier, but there's probably a power distribution in there somewhere, where a few pay off like mad and offset everything else. I'm not advocating irresponsibly handing out business loans or anything like that, but if a bank has the choice between investing in a risky mortgage or a risky business, I guess I would hope they'd pick the business. Then again, I'm not really interested in buying a house anytime soon.