As an Australian, property is way expensive (as a future first homeowner, i am projecting a $100k deposit for a house :() but not due to overvaluation but due to lack of supply that hasn't kept up with demand. However we are not in a bubble if we measure it compared to the realestate flipping of the States with their CDO's, NINJNA's etc.
As well our laws are different, from what i understand in the US, one can walkaway from a mortgage fairly easily. It's almost a
There was a http://www.news.com.au/business/economist-steve-keen-loses-housing-bet-against-rory-robertson/story-e6frfmbi-1225793985120 famous bet between a pessimistic economist and an interest rate strategist at an IB about house prices and this included during the GFC.
Anyway you could have made money shorting the banks during the GFC as the big 4 lost half their market cap but they have now recovered, but we have the Government Deposit guarantee http://www.guaranteescheme.gov.au/, as unfortunately like Citigroup, they are now in the "Too Big to Fail" category so govt will always step in. As well the top 2 of the big 4 got even bigger as they were able to buy the number 5 and one of the challenger banks ranked 7th as they had effectively runout of liquidity during the crunch.
However long-term Australian residential property is a secure investment most of the time. So http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Popping-the-hedge-funds-bubble-pd20100909-94UB9?opendocument&src=rss Jeremy Grantham, you will have egg on your face!