I think you can pretty much blame all of it on the interst rate cuts Greenspan used to bail out the stock market crash in 2001.

Low interest rates reduced foreign investment and weakened the dollar internationally. Since the stock market tanked, speculators moved to housing, which loosened lending standards, and drove house prices artifically higher. Many here argue Greenspan bailed out one bubble with another.

And his free money policy created more money and further weakened the dollar’s purchasing power, here and abroad. Consumer goods stayed affordable because there is virtually no shortage of them, but houses rose on speculation.

Oil in 2002 was about $30/barrel. The war and international demand give us the $70/barrel price today, but the war didn’t increase home prices. Consumers weren’t investing in tanks of gas, they bought homes because money was easy to get, and (at the time) you couldn’t lose. I’d say the over 100% increase in oil is roughly the same we have seen in housing in the last 5 years. But filling up at $4/gallon, albeit expenisve, is different than buying a house you can’t afford.