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What caused the initial housing bubble burst that caused the sub prime crisis?

I know that after the bubble burst housing prices declined and interest rates went up. People with sub prime and adjustable rate mortgages started to default at high rates which caused the crisis. What I don't know is why the bubble burst. Apparently housing prices had been steadily going up since WW2. How did the housing market loose its strength all of a sudden? Anyone know?

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1. A combination of greedy venture capitalists jacking up real estate values and the government's ill conceived solution of making a bank make a loan for these ridiculously high selling prices rather than just curb the price gouging. The market prices started to spike in the 80's when "investment properties" were in vogue... they never came back down. Now let's look at the home buyers. NAFTA was the single worst idea ever unleashed on the working population of the United States in it's history. The number of companies that exported jobs in all salary ranges is well into the hundreds of thousands. politicians always point to unemployment but they will never dare go near the term "under employment" which is where you have people who invested in MBAs and doctorates fighting over $10/hr jobs. Now the majority of people can not really afford a mortgage at the overpriced asking prices but banks had to make them a loan anyway. There you have it, a combination of unchecked greed and a customer base crippled financially by stupid public policies caused the housing market nosedive. And they only bailed out the rich... go figure.
2. the reason prices kept going up was because there was a demand for housing. because of laws enacted by govt, obtaining credit was relatively easy. because obtaining a home loan was easy -- and to that effect, getting a home -- there was a demand for homes and therefore prices skyrocketed. but as interest rates started to go up, adjustable rate mortgages began to adjust at higher rates leading to increased monthly mortgage payments. companys started laying off people, they couldnt pay their mortgage and...POP...the buble burst.
3. Interest rates had dropped several years back, which drove home prices up because people could borrow more money cheaper and expected home prices to keep going up. The government encouraged loans for low income people (anyone with a heartbeat) and speculators bought property on borrowed money for a quick gain. Interest rates started climbing as homes became less affordable due to inflated prices and high interest rates, and whoosh. Everybody knew it would happen, just not when or how bad. Unfortunately the people who pushed for and voted for change are getting a far different kind of change than they expected, because the people who caused it are still in office (congress).
4. There is a show this month on CNBC called House of Cards that goes through the entire rise and fall. You should check it out. I found it really interesting - The reason in a nut = traditionally people have had to put 20% down which means people had to have money to buy a house. In the early 2000s this was no longer a requirement, the loan rates were extermely low, and there was barely a credit check. However, most of these loans were ARMS meaning the interest rate would increase overtime. When that started happening the people couldn't afford the homes they got. - the root of the problem is the bankers who allowed the change to minimal down payments and the subprime loans (minimal credit).