(Photo of pricey condos perched on the Virginia palisades above the Potomac River near the Chain Bridge taken by this DCist Monday at sundown.)

Any faithful reader of DCist and in-tune local citizen knows that real estate is a hot topic in the area. Finding affordable property to buy is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Living in the suburbs can be just as or more expensive as living in the city. And as lot after lot, condo after condo, row house after row house, neighborhood after neighborhood gets caught up in the real estate frenzy, those who have been fortunate to get a piece seem golden. Are they though?

There have been numerous warnings of a possible impending bursting of the real estate bubble for months, but it’s always a good reminder to consider the possibilities. It’s hard to know what’s really going on, but it seems that economists should be better equipped to read market indicators than local television meteorologists. Couple those fears with buzz surrounding the two-income trap and any notion of a robust financial future dependent on one’s real estate is dyspeptic at best.

Christopher Swann of the Financial Times reminds us to be mindful of the threat of a potential real estate bubble burst in the near future. And in the nation’s capital, where property bidding wars are second nature to any real estate hunter, the prospect of a real estate downturn should be something of great discomfort.