I really want to keep this on topic and while there are some good points I want to stick to what was in my mind. My point isnt that ths is the only factor but rather a contributiong factor supporting higher prices.

I’m not saying that gov’t intervention isnt a factor in keeping prices high. We know it is. I’m not sure we can say the Internet creates new demand (though it might encourage people to move by having greater visibility onto what they can get) either. What hit me was that the Internet brings a greater share of the demand to the forefront immediately after a home is listed. When a good property is listed at a fair price it gets slammed with interest and offers immediately. The price can get driven up a little because of the frenzy. Before the Internet the only frenzy was at new tracts with buyers camping out. It just seems to me that the benefits of the Internet to the seller could be are as strong or stronger than they are for buyers.

FWIW, I have a listing about to close that sold at least $25K above and probably closer to $50K above what I thought it could reasonably sell for. Multiple offers the 1st weekend despite an asking price I was almost embaressed to put on it. The market proved me wrong and overly pessimistic in this case.