bust or boom? the bubble watch

Along a cluetrain meme, in the amid the current housing boom-or-bubble, real estate blogs constitute the (few) skeptical voices within the particular market's "conversation."

What are they saying? Are they harbingers of a bursting bubble?

I once heard that JFK's father knew it was time to get out of the stock market when the boy shining his shoes gave him stock advice. Conversely, I've come to regard blogs as most valuable when they empower networks or communities of experts to collaborate, to vet ideas, and to grow (we hope) collectively smarter as members of these groups.

Is the blogosphere acting like the shoeshine boy or more like a fire brigade sounding alarm? At this point I think it's too close to call.

Blogs like this demonstrate perhaps my only confident prediciton: if the housing market plummets, the bloggers watching this highly speculative market will be among the first to know and sound the alarm.

a comment left on one blog recently asked:

"Has anyone wondered how much less warning the speculators may have this time around, now that blogs like this allow people to communicate without the media filters?"