"kincella - with the economy that bad, hard to imagine prices increases in real estate wouldn't you think? "
indeed. The price rises in property have been due to the sustained growth we have had for the last 14 years, and the rise in real wages that has come with it. Unfortunately inelastic supply (through poor planning), artificial stimulus and all the other crap we go on about has seen prices rise unsustainably higher than the rise in real incomes.