Real estate bubble: the flatlands vs. the zoned zone

Is there a real estate bubble? It is a hot topic, but one that journalists do not cover very well in my opinion. Too much heresay; short on facts. Alas, I have come upon some nice exceptions in recent weeks. The first is an article by Steven Lansburg, which introduced to me the important effect of zoning regulations on real estate values. Link

Lansburg cites to the research of economics prof Ed Glaeser and finance prof Joe Gyourko. The cited paper appeared in Regulation magazine way back in 2002; the magazine article is a condensed summary of their research, and easy to read. Link

Finally, in yesterday's NYT Krugman picks up on Glaeser and Gyourko's research and concludes that there is a bubble...in parts of the US; that is, a bubble is obvious if you compare the price increases of real estate in what he calls the "flatland" (eg, central Illinois) vs. "zoned zone" (eg, Chicagoland). Price increases in the latter are out of control. Yikes! Link