No, most were not "doing what they can to put their family in a home". They were buying absurdly expensive homes they did not need and could not afford, with mortgages they could not pay. They were not forced to buy a home they could not afford. They CHOSE to buy a home they could not afford.
The market where I live is a PRIME example of this. It is one of, if not the fastest growing area in the southeast, if not the country. There were PLENTY of $100K homes available, and idiots making $50K a year were buying $250K and $350K homes because they could get a mortgage written. Then their over time got cut. And they had a car or two leased. The people who were making $50K a year and buying $100K homes made it just fine. The idiots making $50K a year who bought $200K and up homes weren't. They both had the same jobs, their kids went to the same schools. At least until the idiots defaulted. And many STILL haven't learned.
We bought a $70K home, because we made $50K. And even then, when my wife had cancer, then the insurance company and the medical offices disagreed, we got in a tight spot. We made it okay. We could have made it okay if we had a $100K house, maybe even $125K. But we could not have saved a $150K or up mortgage with a high rate. We were not stupid. We have a decent home in a decent area, and not only does my son go to a decent school, but we can afford to help my daughter go to law school. Not much, but enough to get her going. And we're not in a blind panic every time anything goes wrong. We're upgrading the house as we can. We'll soon be in decent shape to refinance to get our rate down. We'll take a little cash out to improve the place more, and my wife wants me to have some extra cash because I made some earlier sacrifices she feels I should be rewarded for. In five years, when my son has been out of school for a year, we'll be in GREAT shape, and our home will possibly be worth $180K to $220K, depending on the market and how smart I am in upgrading and updating. This all worked because we DID NOT feel entitled to the home we wanted, but rather we bought the home we could afford.