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Housing in NoVa has gone beyond the stratospheric to the astronomical! Best thing I ever did was buy a place back in 1997. How youngsters starting out can even get into a condo now is a mystery.

Same story here in San Diego now. $550,000 for a typical 30-year-old 1500 square foot house. Salaries haven't gone up, though.

"Same story here in San Diego now. $550,000 for a typical 30-year-old 1500 square foot house. Salaries haven't gone up, though."

Interesting stats I found regarding San Diego. According to LoanPerformance Inc., interest-only loans accounted for barely one-third of one percent of loans in 2001 but now account for 14.5% of all purchase loans in San Diego.

San Diego is one of 27 housing bubble markets identified by economist Michael Youngblood who works for Arlington Va. based investment banking firm Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. They've defined bubble markets as those where per-capita income growth rates severely lag housing price growth and are seriously out of synch with historical price-to-income norms.

I have friends in SD who say the market is nuts and that speculators are buying an ever increasing number of the properties available.