"The Beginning of the End?"

Martin Wolk, chief economics correspondent for MSNBC, reports today that, although the market doesn't show signs of cooling on its face, there's a growing rumble among analysts. One person quoted in Wolk's story, Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisers, said he thinks the market is "out of hand."

Cocktail-party and office chatter he hears nowadays is reminiscent of the tech-stock boom of the 1990s, except that now would-be investors are looking to make a killing by flipping unbuilt condo units.

“When you see everyone starting to get into these deals, it’s getting beyond crazy,” he said. “People are saying, I’ve got to buy now, because if I don’t I’m never going to get into the market.”

Then there's those housing-start numbers...

"One possible crack in the market cited by some analysts this week was that the number of single-family homes authorized but not yet started has risen sharply over the past year to a record 177,000, compared with 143,000 a year ago.

“That suggests to me that there is a speculative element developing with home builders, and that usually is the beginning of the end,” said Paul Kasriel, research director at Northern Trust in Chicago.