The real problem

If Yun and Penner are to be believed, we’re not in a bubble. Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson recently told CNBC the same thing. The real problem, according to those three, who account for a wealth of real estate experience, is construction: there isn’t enough of it.

“We need more inventory, not less,” Richardson said.

Yun wrote that “there is only one sure cure to getting the housing market back into balance and from preventing home prices from rising too fast: more homebuilding activity.”

Penner isn’t worried about rising prices, because he believes it’s what will ultimately stimulate building.

“I think that pricing’s an issue for sure, but I think pricing will stimulate more building,” he said. “I don’t worry about a crash.”

But the problem with all of that is affordability. Yun even attributed July’s falling sales to it.

“Severely restrained inventory and the tightening grip it’s putting on affordability is the primary culprit for the considerable sales slump throughout much of the country last month,” he said in a statement accompanying the association’s report.