NPR and the rest of the leftist media is doing everything possible to "talk down" the economy and it's not having any effect. The internet bubble occurred because there were too many dot.coms with no real business plan and no hope of profits ever. This is not the case with real estate, real estate is tangible and has always appreciated over time, this is not some theoretical model like the Klintoon "boom" was. Ford and GM are in trouble because they gave too many rebates and offered too low interest rates, but there too, people need automobiles and they will continue to buy them.
Certain parts of the RE are a bubble. Development of raw land, however, is NOT.
"This is not the case with real estate, real estate is tangible and has always appreciated over time"
Yes, it's obviously true over time, but what they're talking about is speculation by novices that may be driving prices up. Bad for the novices and bad for their lenders.
It took a decade for the real estate markets in the oil bust states to recover.
The recession of the late 90's in the Northeast caused by a real estate bubble had hard impact on homeowners and lenders. I was graduating from college at that time and a lot of fellow graduates faced dismal employment opportunities.
The stock market on average has always gone up as well, but that was cold comfort to everyone caught in the dot.com bust. Real estate may be tangible, but that does not mean that the price you may pay for it is supported by current market forces. If no one can afford or wants to buy your 2 BR, 2.5 BA home in San Diego for the $500K you paid for it, you are in the bucket, as they say.
Ford and GM are in trouble because they gave too many rebates and offered too low interest rates, but there too, people need automobiles and they will continue to buy them.
People may need automobiles, but they may not need or want Ford or GM automobiles. Toyota, Nissan, and Honda are absolutely handing the "Big Three" their heads. Again!
"talk down"... yes, exactly. And, isn't that what the dhimmicrats cautioned the Bush administration against doing back in 2001??? - yet they easily shed such concerns when it is "they" - in their self-anointed superiority over us untermenschen von rotstaaten - who sagely proclaim what's really happening to the economy.