The Housing Bubble Is Dead, Long Live the Housing Bubble

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Well, maybe not everywhere, but in Southern California the good times are definitely rolling again:

The median home price in Southern California surged a stunning 28% in June compared with a year earlier — outpacing any month during last decade’s housing bubble. The gain puts the median at $385,000, up from $300,000 last June.

Some experts warn that prices, driven by short supply, should cool off soon….But others see nothing but higher prices ahead, with supply staying tight and buyers scrambling to close deals before the window of affordability slams shut.

Syd Leibovitch, founder and president of Rodeo Realty in Beverly Hills, said he expects prices to double from their bottom last year. “You have a lot of room to run,” Leibovitch said. “Because historically, they always double in these cycles, and then they drop back a bit.”

Yeah, baby! Prices always double during these cycles. You can take it to the bank.

Or maybe not. Plenty of the folks interviewed by the Times don’t think these prices are sustainable. My instinct says they’re right, but all it takes is another few months like June and we’ll be back in mega-bubble territory, just waiting for it to burst again and wreck the local economy. Good times.

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