San Diego In The Role of Sisyphus?

Heard about this one from John Doe over at Southern California Real Estate Bubble Crash. It's a story by San Diego Union-Tribune staff writers Roger M. Showley and Lori Weisberg. Weisberg's been on the housing beat for several years down there and knows what's what. Her housing trend stories often are the first of their kind, soon echoed up the coast by the LA Times, etc... This one deals with the end of the double-digit, year-after-year increases in housing prices. Could it signal the begining of the pop?

I couldn't help but think of the myth of Sisyphus while reading it. This rock could be ready to roll.

Here's an excerpt:

The last time DataQuick Information Systems reported a similarly dramatic shift was in 1990, when prices rose 3.7 percent, compared to a 16.6 percent rise the year before. That milestone heralded the beginning of a seven-year real estate recession.

Economic conditions today, however, are far different from the early '90s when job layoffs, bank failures and a sharp economic downturn soured the local housing market. Jolly said San Diego has experienced up-and-down real estate cycles, but he did not think the area is poised for a bust.

— The Boy in the Big Housing Bubble