The media keeps talking about a bust or crash. I am suprised that the real estate community hasn't been able to put this into context. I have heard the National Association of Realtors attempt to fudge with statistics or use different terminology (i.e. slow down, gradual decline), but why not point to facts? 10% gains are still great! They are not as good as 45% gains, but they are nothing to sneeze at. Read the following review of a recent CNN article.

All good points. I do think that it varies by area though. There are some people sitting on bubbles that truly will burst at some point in the near or semi-near future.

Still, I do agree that the media makes things totally out of context most of the time. Not to mention, usually the reporters aren't exactly experts in the subject.

I've found that you need to take what the media says with a grain of salt and do your own research. Like r8rpwr said, they're not all experts in real estate.