The RealEstateJournal.com has a nice article on the history of Florida's real estate bubble in the 1920s.

The author quoted Ms. Gertrude Shelby, a journalist, who used a metaphor to explain the rapid inflation of property prices in Florida. "Put down a pan full of big scraps, and the hens come running. The first ones grab big pieces and depart rapidly. ... The others see the pieces in the beaks, and instead of realizing there's plenty more in the pan, they chase the hens who got the first pieces. That's resale psychology."

I thought that metaphor is really accurate and interesting. I can't help but think of the DotCom stock bubble of the 1999-2000 era, which is exactly caused by this psychology.

The current housing boom in parts of the country could be a replay of the Florida real estate boom and bust in the 1920. What's more? With today's powerful media, easy access to information, and easy access to capital (helped by historical low interest rates), one can only imagine that the boom and bust could be even more extreme.

The author ended the article with a great line: "By 1927, those who still had money to gamble left Florida for a safer game: the stock market."