Housing Bubble Has A Downside?

With a tag line like "Another month, another real estate record", you know what's coming. One more can-you-believe-it story from California about their wacky housing market.

However the San Francisco Chronicle stumbled upon the fact that the boom has a downside. "'We got presentations from buyers who were prospective first-time homeowners, schoolteachers, newlywed couples, single moms -- the letters broke our hearts,' she said..It went for 33 percent above the $419,000 list price."

At 33% their hearts weren't too soft! The monthly payment is "another record" as well. "Bay Area home buyers in February committed to a typical monthly mortgage payment of $2,549, a record. That payment is up 21.9 percent from $2,091 a year ago."