Granted, on this cycle people bought some houses and raised the value in some shockingly stupid places. But compared to lets say Tennessee or Louisiana property here on the whole is more expensive. Most urban places are unless we want to discuss some real disasters like Baltimore or Detroit. Even Augusta Maine has risen out of the reach of any of its residents. A median income of 27k for a median property value of 244k? Thats worse than the 2006 numbers.