I sent a follow-up letter to the editor about the point I made, that people who reference an article should speak to its points, refute it, present alternate data, whatever, not just reference it and then say they disagree about the housing bubble. I also e-mailed Lew Breeze, and he wrote me back some niceties, without any substance. I wrote to him again, and challenged him to send me some data to refute any of the points you made.

1/21/06 – Mr. Breeze responded to me as follows per e-mail:
“Now, in response to your questions, I think there is a myth, to the myth of a housing shortage. I haven’t seen for a couple years now, anyone who seriously things there is a shortage. So actually, I don’t have a reason to disagree about the shortage (there isn’t one), but again do not believe there is even a myth to a shortage.”
I wrote him back: the CAR website has on its front page the following:
“California has faced chronic housing shortages and housing affordability problems for decades. Recent analyses of the housing gap indicate that the state faces a housing shortfall of 80 to 100 thousand units each year. Given the housing shortage, it is no surprise that only thirty percent of California households can afford the median-priced home in the state, compared to fifty-five percent nationally. REALTORS® across the state are well aware of these issues, and have often been in the forefront in publicizing these problems and seeking solutions to them for several years.” (www.sdar.com, front page)
So the realtor association blames high prices on the housing shortage.