For example, in October 1987 stock markets around the world fell sharply, but this did not represent a threat to the banking system and so, its impact was contained. In contrast, many researchers trace the origins of the current financial crisis back to the bursting of the US house price bubble.
The link between house prices, banking crises and recessions is not unique to the current situation: a number of studies examining crises in both advanced and emerging economies over time and across countries have shown that they tend to coincide with the bursting of house price bubbles.