the trouble with discussing something like the housing market is that almost everyone has a vested interest, and not just an economist that works for a bank, or even the media trying to protect ad revenue, but also those that say the market will crash.
One of the main arguments made by those saying the market will crash and burn is that if you defend part of the housing market then you must be linked to construction or the banks, but the same people normally have a vested interest because they haven't bought yet and think they will have to pay too much, so they often will actively want the market to fall, and they will go sniifing for reasons to back this up
Their is also an almost religious zeal about some of those that say the market will crash, as though they would like to see those that have done well over the last few years put back in there place.
I actually think that if the housing market stagnates for a few years, and if units of housing output contracted over the next few years it would be good news for the economy, and help wean the economy off construction.
But it seems you must be a bear or a bull on the issue, and as with most messageboards the more extreme your views, the harsher your language the more likely you are to win the argument on the messageboard, that's why I like AAM's fairly tight mod policy of keeping threads on topic, or civil at least.