>This is certainly a trend that started a long time ago (pre-Clinton
>even?), and I think it's a positive one. I don't know exactly how much
>the tax cuts helped, but how much of this 'bubble' is really accounted
>for by bubbiliciousness and how much of it is really first time
>homeowners finally being able to afford mortgages? Access to credit,
>especially in the lower quintiles, is a big barrier to mobility.
I don't see the bubble in the homeownership stats, but in the price/income ratios (or price/rental ratios), which are either at or near record highs. That, plus the mad level of home equity withdrawal - $600-700 billion last year. Debt is increasing far faster than equity. But no reason to worry - Alan Greenspan says it isn't a bubble!
Doug