Mr. Perkins makes today's real estate market sound like a carnival.

The sad fact is that a lot of folks are being excluded from the market. These folks are married with children. If they currently own a mortgage, the likelihood that they can buy another home is very slim unless their combined income is over, say $100,000, and they are not off balance on their budgets. Anybody else with incomes below that are probably out of luck.

Perkins writes about real estate agents who are "mystified" as to why the market is behaving this way. But there is no mystery here. We live in a capitalistic economy. The chief characteristic being that aberrations will occur. It touches every aspect of the economy. If there is any mystery, Mr. Perkins, it's when will the bubble burst. That also is a characteristic of a capitalistic economy. The scenario in that instance will be a massive disruption of the markets.

Perkins is sadly mistaken if he thinks that this is a time to party. The driving force behind this market is the same driving force that caused a cyclical depression in the real estate markets during the early 90s. Only this time, the waste will be much greater and the impact more intensified.

In the meantime, what about all those who are working but excluded from buying home, and don't they have enough income?

So here's a thought: Who needs a real estate agent anyway? There are other ways to buy a home and that will increase dramatically.

Mike Davis

San Jose