Never before have such words been used to describe Americans’ perceptions of their homes. “Dream” and “castle” evolved over the last decade into “fascination” then “obsession” then “lust.” Yes, lust. Or, at least, that’s what Daniel McGinn calls it in his new book, House Lust.

McGinn, a national correspondent for Newsweek, says it all began around the turn of the century – about 1999.

“Back then there was a glint in every seller’s eye,” says McGinn. “They knew they were going to make lots of money off a buyer. That’s because the mentality of Americans toward homeownership was changing.”

Everywhere people went they bumped into someone who was getting rich fast in real estate. Indeed, many were. They were the real estate flippers. Eventually the historical boom that unfolded would be characterized by excess and “irrational exuberance,” a phrase coined in 1996 by then Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan and the title of a book written by Yale Professor Robert J. Shiller.

America’s housing boom was parallel to the dot com boom. The big difference was that the housing boom varied dramatically from one part of America to another. That didn’t matter, however, as headlines of the day told of yet another way to get a home mortgage.

“At one point,” says McGinn, “it seemed the national goal was to have as many bathrooms as people.”

America’s housing boom was fed by television, contends McGinn, who says he’s met “addicts” who spend 30 hours or more a week watching HGTV. Surely you’ve seen This Old House, Extreme Makeover, Home Edition, Designed to Sell,and others of that genre?

“What your neighbor sold his house for was a bigger topic of discussion than his religion or politics,” McGinn grins.

Fascination with homeownership became a passion. Passion erupted into a frenzy, and frenzy eventually fizzled during what’s been called “the trillion-dollar meltdown.” A book by that name was written by Paul Steiger, former managing editor of the Wall Street Journal.

The eagerness of the press to report every uptick in the housing cycle seemed almost bystanderish in comparison to their articles when the bubble began to burst in certain parts of the country. Questions about the media’s role in the boom-to-bust ride remain. What did the media know about the extent of the subprime problem? When did they know it? Why did they not expose it earlier?

Many real estate agents blame the media for today’s housing-market mess, saying that if reporters had written more positive articles, the self-fulfilling prophesy would never have happened. That criticism has prompted the media to counter with, “We were just reporting what was happening.”

Despite what you see about depressed housing markets, remember what every good Texas REALTOR® says daily: “Real estate is local.” That means every city, county, and state is different. Making generalities is dangerous. Having said this, I close by reporting that, in general, Texas real estate has returned to “normal,” the place it would have been had the boom not occurred in the first place.