Geoff Considine

Why There's No Such Thing As a Housing Bubble

This is an interesting discussion---more for the issue of disclosure, perhaps, than the actual topic. This is why SeekingAlpha introduced their 'stamp of approval'--their certification. Contributors who are SA-certified promise to reveal any interests they have in the investments they write about. In this case, this is an interesting issue. My feeling is that it would be best if the author had disclosed that he is a realtor, whether or not he is certified. The real point here is that all articles should be treated with caution until you read further--and clicking through to see who or what the author represents is always a good idea. This is the real take-away.

On the topic of this article, I do wonder why so few people touting the housing market fail to point out the long-run rates of return on real estate. They fall somewhere between stocks and bonds. Further, the most accepted measure of pricing levels is the ratio of rents to costs of ownership, as one response above points out--and rents are very low by this measure, which means that housing prices are high. Also, as a general reference, I would suggest that interested parties look at writings by Robert Schiller on the current market for real estate in a true historical context.

Disclosure: the author of this comment owns a home and has no plans to sell.