Are We In The Middle Of A Real Estate Bubble?

Many are wondering if we are in the middle of a real estate bubble. My guess is that we are. In many areas of North America (and other parts of the world) prices over the past few years have increased dramatically. Just like the Tech bubble that we had in the late nineties (and burst in 2000), prices have increased too fast and in many cases further increases will be unsustainable. The factors that have driven this increase are historically low interest rates, poor returns on common mutual fund investments and the baby boomers moving to larger and grander homes. But, as with all things, this too must come to an end. Hopefully we will experience a "soft" landing - meaning prices won't retract in value, they will just stop going up for a while. The worst case will be if prices suddenly fall sharply and interest rates rise. If that happens...well, good luck to all of you who are over-extended in the debt department, because you may have to sell your new home at a loss and still pay off a whopping mortgage on a house you no longer own. Ouch!
Scrooge