Business Week: Psssssfffffft. That's the sound of the air finally leaking from the real estate bubble

Boy, to see such frankness in the major press is just amazing. The bubble isn't being reported as theory anymore. It's being reported as matter of fact.

Haven't gotten my Smart Money yet though - the Fast Company of the housing bubble age...

What do you all think of the media's reporting of this bubble - past and/or current? I'm actually impressed with reporting the past 30 days or so - but wonder (as with Iraq) where they were when we really needed them to do their job.

Psssssfffffft. That's the sound of the air finally leaking from the real estate bubble in Loudoun County, Va. Since 2000 it's been the nation's fastest-growing county, where eager homebuyers always seemed to outnumber happy sellers. Until now.

What's happening in Loudoun is a rapid shift in psychology -- a classic sign of a market turn. The buoyant optimism that fueled speculation and expectations of ever-rising prices is now succumbing to the fear of being left standing when the music stops. Real estate, the hottest play of the century in Loudoun, is rapidly cooling.

The same signs of a slowing market can be seen in hot spots across the country, from Boston and Miami to Phoenix, Las Vegas, and San Diego.

Loudoun's real estate community insists the market is merely reverting to a more normal state. "We're coming back to more of a balance," says Karen Overheu, a Long & Foster Realtor with listings in Loudoun County. "You don't have to make up your mind (about buying a house) in an hour or risk losing it to someone else. It's a little insane to have it the other way."

There's another explanation, says insurance agent Joe Kelly over lunch downtown at the Leesburg Restaurant. "They ran out of stupid people."