[fujishig]

Well, I live in CA, and if there is no bubble, then I'm never owning a house (here, at least), since I certainly can't afford more than maybe a closet, and I'm not like most of these people who have no problem getting a interest-only loan and counting on increasing equity. I know this is the only way a lot of people can afford houses, but when more than half of new housing loans are interest only, there's a problem. Ah, I'll pay off my debt and save some money for a few years, and see what the market is like by then. If the median price rises to a mil by then, I guess I'm renting until I'm dead.

I wonder how much of the "demand" for housing is from speculators and "investors" and how much is from people actually wanting to live in them?

By the way, about Hawaii: someone mentioned (maybe in the FW thread) that the reason housing is so expensive there is because it takes so long for a new house to be built. Not to mention the limited real estate there. I was born in Hawaii, and often wonder how people can afford to live there, since last I checked, tourism is still down and that's the number one industry there, not to mention the cost of living (even taking housing out) is sky high.

Of course, I'm hoping it's not a nation-wide bubble, since that could hurt our economy, but to me the coastal real estate markets are ridiculous.