The New Dot-Com?

New York Times

The real estate boom has taken offwith a fervor, and some economists arestarting to warily compare it to the dotcomfever that struck a decade ago. Thereare stories of houses being flipped, sometimesbeing sold twice within a day;flashy parties where developers auctionoff condos; and middle-income entrepreneursinvesting in multiple properties. Arecent article points outsimilarities to the stock market craze. Ofcourse, houses are more tangible andpeople don't sell their homes as quickly asstocks, making panic less likely. And thenthere's the limited land supply/increaseddemand point raised by real estategroups. In March, Federal ReserveChairman Alan Greenspan commentedthat real estate speculation has shown amarked increase and that some analystshave conjectured a bubble in housingprices that will implode. However, he didnot expect a destabilizing drop in prices,in part because home prices across thecountry have never fallen significantly.