I agree that the % of bubble sitters is likely very low in the San Diego market. It would be interesting to see an economic profile of renters in SD market, perhaps a good research topic for an econ student. The topic might even have enough depth for an Economics PhD dissertation. Any survey done should have strong methodologies, e.g. unbiased questions, adequate sample size with random sampling. There’s alot of work required to get good data and to make conclusions that can be backed up. Of course, real estate has a big emotional element that is intangible. These intangibles keep the dismal science interesting. The one thing that we all seem to agree on this site is that incomes are out of whack with house prices, and we at high risk for moderate price declines.
But hey, I’m just preaching to the choir here, after all this site is about the SoCal housing bubble. Signing off on this forum, a good discussion. It was the first time that I’ve posted anything on this piggington site, I’ve been vicariously reading in recent months.