Readers are interested in discussing the real estate industry and accountability. "Topic: Factual accountability and disclosure by listing services, agents and brokers. It is my opinion that the truth has been something sorely lacking in much of this bubble run up. I suspect that many of the bidding wars have had phantom opposition, that many agent representatives are investors as well and that listing facts are anything but factual."

"How many cases have there been where a property has been taken off the list and then magically appears as a new listing a few weeks or months later."

"What about a property described as reduced twice when no one can remember seeing it listed at the first price? And of course we have people who are being paid a hefty percentage of the transaction for their expertise who are investors in the commodity they are advising for."

"No greater harm has been seen that that of believing that the RE and Mortgage industry can self govern. Self profit yes, self govern no. The foxes have been managing the henhouse for far too long and for some unexplicable reason we have been buying regular eggs from them at Fabrege prices."

One reader added, "Another topic is the role of crooked appraisers in this run up. They are the ones who validated all these hige price jumps, and I’mwondering where the justification was these past few years for a house to be truly worth $55K more than the one 3 doors down that sold for 6 months prior."

And how about economists? "Hawaii, it appears, has caught the mainland's cold. Although the median price of homes in the state continues to rise, sales have been decreasing for several months and market observers believe it won't be too much longer before prices begin leveling off."

"It's no longer a seller's market where almost any price goes and buyers fall over themselves making offers above the asking price. 'I think its pretty clear a buyer in the market has more choices and can take their time and make an informed decision whereas last year and the year before the market was so fast they had to jump,' Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the Honolulu Board of Realtors said."

"'If history repeats, it will plateau,' Shapiro said. 'The '90s were atypical where we had price decreases.' During the mid-'90s, median prices fell about 20 percent over a period of four to five years. But Leroy Laney, a professor of economics and finance at Hawaii Pacific University, doesn't expect a repeat of that scenario."

"'The real estate market typically doesn't behave like the equity or bond markets,' he said. 'They don't go up or down. They usually go up and then plateau before waiting a decade and then having another rise. But that doesn't mean it can't go down some.'"

"Shapiro doesn't think it's too late to get into the housing market. 'I would recommend people buy at this time because prices will be going up,' he said."