At its core is a banking structure that is characterized by very large numbers of relatively small banks -- more than 7000 separate banking organizations. This banking structure is very different from that of other industrialized nations -- for example, there are less than 500 banks incorporated in England, Germany, and Canada combined.
However, most of the increases must be attributed to the low interest rates, growth in real incomes and the freeze on property taxes. This is therefore not an inexplicable price bubble, yet prices may fall when interest rates go up. Times are good for the banks, and lending is growing.