The latest numbers from the Mortgage Bankers Association are not that encouraging. Rates are now at a near four-year high and loan activity is off 5.5 percent, reports Reuters. And even without all those fees, mortgage rates are at 6.5 percent.

The bankers index is behind where it was a year ago, which is about what people expected but it’s still a shock to hear that rates are as high as they’ve been since 2001.

So the question is no longer is there a bubble but how quick and how deep will be the collapse?

In Southern Nevada we seem to have slipped back from crazy a year or two ago to robust and sustainable. And even today’s rate news won’t strangle home building in the valley. The latest numbers from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported in the Business Press show that prices are still strong here and that inventory is not staying an abnormally long time on the market. Although if I were a buyer I’d look around and, of course, sellers take a while to figure out that prices aren’ as hot as they would like them to be.