[rbmillerjr]

I live in the WashDC/Baltimore area ( I appreciate your condolences)...the real estate market here is exploding but it really isn't irrational at all, it is very market driven.

I live in a townhouse in the suburbs...and people moving into the area can't afford the 400k single family homes, so they buy nice townhomes for 395k...the people buying the standard single family homes, are willing to pay that price due to supply and demand in the real estate market in this area....me I'm cashing in and moving to a low cost small town. It's a great opportunity for myself and my family to get a great standard of living and get out of the ratrace...several others where I work are doing the same thing, moving the Research Triangle in NC, York, Pa, Pittsburg, Pa, Charlotte, NC.

[ambrose]

The best bubble indicator, per the Economist, is a wide divergence between the monthly cost to rent a place and the monthly cost to purchase it.

[the Real fifi]

I live in Northwest DC and I can attest to the rise in prices and their rationality. Not only is employment boomng here, but, as in So Cal, commutes are getting more impossible than ever. (We are only behind LA in length of commuting time.) If mortgage rates go up substantially, prices may level off but I do not see a "pop". The only time the housing market here was troubled was during the presidency of Jimmy "the putz" Carter when financing even at very high rates was hard to get. Many people who could afford those rates couldn't come up with the necessary 20% downpayment, Houses in my neighborhood stayed on the market longer, but prices remained fairly stable even then.

[flair2000]

I'm cashing in and moving to a low cost small town

That's what I did. My home in Va Beach nearly tripled in value over nine years (most of the increase over the last three years). We cashed in and bought a home 3 miles south of the state line in NC. Everything is dirt cheap down here. I work in the same place, and my commute is not that much more than what I was doing before. We're now debt free, and my wife can be a stay-at-home mom.

[Terabitten]

people moving into the area can't afford the 400k single family homes, so they buy nice townhomes for 395k

I don't understand - was that a typo or were you being sarcastic?