Is there a housing bubble?

Look at this from Krugman in the NY Times:

This is the way the bubble ends: not with a pop, but with a hiss.

Housing prices move much more slowly than stock prices. There are no Black Mondays, when prices fall 23 percent in a day. In fact, prices often keep rising for a while even after a housing boom goes bust.

So the news that the U.S. housing bubble is over won't come in the form of plunging prices; it will come in the form of falling sales and rising inventory, as sellers try to get prices that buyers are no longer willing to pay. And the process may already have started.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/opinion/08krugman.html?ex=1124164800&en=cc85744ba23dc384&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Compare that with this from the Northwestern:

As of the end of June, there were 89 duplexes of 50 years or older on the market,” Captain said.

“Last year, 29 duplexes of that sort sold. In other words, we have a three-year supply (of duplexes) on the market. What’s happening is some (landlords) are deciding to get out of the business, but we can’t sell the ... things.”

http://www.wisinfo.com/northwestern/news/local/stories/local_22108218.shtml

Just something to toss around....