It ain't a house. Boo Hoo over the fact that you don't live in an area where there's a housing bubble? Funny thing is this article's author not only calls inflated home prices a "housing bubble" (and correctly so), but the piece has the tone of despair over the fact that one has to "miss out" on such a thing. Yeah, it kinda sucks missing out on the stomach flu, too.

Homes for sale in Metro Detroit are staying on the market longer, and some sellers say they are losing confidence in the market's traditional ability to provide solid price gains that can support the purchase of a larger home and help fill retirement portfolios.

That can be particularly troublesome for the growing number of families with interest-only mortgages, a heavily marketed option in recent years. Because their minimum payments don't include any principal, these homeowners often count on growth in their property's value to build equity. In a depressed market, they can end up owing more than their home is worth when they want to sell.

As to the last sentence: good! Any moron irresponsible enough to gamble on an interest-only loan on the basis of "sure investment" deserves to sink. If you are bloody rich, then speculating on homes is a great pastime. If you are barely squeaking by and need to provide for your family, speculating on a shelter is utter stupidity. The message is "all hail the credit bubble," and therefore, gotta love those interest-only mortgages. Boo-hoo for those that get burned by them. The public has become shamelessly used to breast-feeding on cheap money, an inflated economy, and Fed-fueled markets, such as the market for housing.

Let's face it: a house is not a friggin' investment. It is a durable consumer good. One can speculate on a house, but one does not "invest" in a living space. The great thing about Southeastern Michigan is that one can afford to buy a nice house without having to live for it, too. And amazingly, that does not make me despair. I have friends that have ramshackle cheeseboxes in Northern Virginia that make my bathroom look large, and at 3-4x the cost. For those of you that like that sort of thing, stay where you are, and help keep our housing prices low here.