[clarkmoody]

Price is where supply meets demand. So prices moving up means either:

1. Demand is increasing faster than supply can keep up

2. Supply is shrinking faster than demand falls

For housing in large cities, it's usually (1) above.

Easy money policies stoke artificial demand by making money cheaper (lower interest rates). That makes speculation in housing easier than it otherwise should be. Don't blame "speculators." They are simply responding to conditions created by central banks and the fiat money system.