The perceived likelihood of a collapse in the housing market seems to be on the rise among the econo-pundits. Even if it's not our fate, it seems we may very well talk our collective selves into a painful "correction" in the housing markets. The stories I've collected over the past few days.

Editorial:Property values have risen too high

Prince William County used to be considered a "bed and breakfast" community, where those who worked in or around Washington, D.C. could afford to raise their families, enjoy quality schools and live in a comfortable, affordable home or apartment.

The end of the affordable "era" has come and gone in recent years, with many new home prices (and used homes) now exceeding $500,000. Prince William County residents are living "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" on paper but their bank accounts and living conditions don't reflect such a style.

But is this even a bubble?

... a wholesale crash means a wholesale retreat from fundamentals. Fundamentals like supply and demand ? there's still far more demand than supply and still far more willing customers than greedy speculators.

Even the Weekly Standard has noticed

Perhaps we are seeing only "a little froth in the market," to borrow the phrase used by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan in his recent speech to the Economic Club of New York. The man who is famous for saying that if anyone understands what I am saying, I must have misspoken, handed down this model of clarity, "Without calling the overall national issue a bubble, it's pretty clear that it's an unsustainable underlying pattern." Froth, it seems, consists of "a lot of local bubbles." Meaning: In some areas prices are due to come down, but there will be no nationwide collapse in house prices.

More troubling perhaps is the sketchy financing:

More and more Americans--two-thirds of new buyers, by one estimate--are opting for variable rate mortgages, or choosing to pay only the interest due in the early years, leaving repayment of the loan for a later date.

Jim Bacon agrees:

This kind of flimsy financing is a sure sign of a market top. I was warning about the real estate bubble in November 2003, but I didn't have a sense then of imminent danger. I do now.

Vodkapundit has this pair of postings: Pop Goes The LIBOR and I Told You So

Atlanta first. Driving around here and seeing signs for houses ranging from "upper $400's" to "$750's" and up--and this is not in the fancier sections, mind you--I've been asking for years, "Who the hell buys these places, and what do they do for a living? How can that many people afford the mortgage on a house like that?" The answer may be, "They can't--unless it's floating on a cheap ARM or LIBOR."

More Fuel For The Fire:20,000+ homes in Dulles South?

New development battles brew in Loudoun almost daily. Both the rural and suburban halves of the county feel the pressure of prosperity -- more jobs, more residents, more houses, more conflict.

A new group has formed to fight for the middle ground ? a large swath of land known to planners and developers as Dulles South, running on both sides of U.S. 50 between U.S. 15 and Route 659.

Current zoning regards it as a low-density ?transition zone? between the urbanized east and rural west.

Read all of the comments.

And you might ask, isn't this all rather precarious? Jim Bacon quotes the WaPo:

Sayeth the Post: "Foreclosure rates rose in 47 states in March, according to Foreclosure.com, an online foreclosure listing service. The rates in Florida, Texas and Colorado are more than twice the national average. Even in New York City and Boston, where real estate markets are white-hot, foreclosures are rising in working-class neighborhoods

Technorati Tag: housing

Technorati Tag: irrational exuberance