"You were one of the influences that saved me from buying in Los Angeles," a reader wrote on the Housing Bubble Casualty blog, which is run by San Diego resident Brooks Hollan. "It was hard not to go with the herd. Your no-nonsense, rational commentary helped me stick to my guns. Thank you!"
Hollan and other commentators are another example of how bloggers are providing alternative sources of information and analysis across a wide spectrum of topics, said Stuart Gabriel, professor of finance and business economics at USC.
Although many real estate pros predicted that the price gains were unsustainable, the bloggers had a special appeal because they could portray themselves as unbiased, he said.
But even as they warned against the perils of easy money and lax loan standards, some bloggers have accepted ads or sponsored links on their sites from lenders.