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It’s a familiar headline, reminiscent of 2006 – homes in desert cities climbing in price and leading the nation in growth. Specifically, housing prices are climbing quickly in Phoenix and in Las Vegas and experts are calling it a bubble, but one confined to only those cities. They also warn that just like the housing bubble of 2006, an implosion could follow.

As Bloomberg News notes, this year, Las Vegas and Phoenix topped the nation in price increases. Phoenix jumped 21 percent and Las Vegas is up 23 percent from last year. Nationally, home prices climbed 12 percent.

But Karl Case, one of the creators of the S&P/Case-Shiller property value index, told Bloomberg News that “they’re clearly in bubbles. What can go up can go down – real quick.”

Just how long the increases will be sustained is unknown. Construction nationwide grew in July but the growth was all in apartment construction, not single-family homes. 

Realtors and investors seem to be ahead of the crush of sudden buyers. Bidding wars are in full force in Phoenix as buyers pick over the market. A U.S. Army veteran found out quickly just how intense the competition had grown for buying a home. 

And when President Barack Obama landed in Phoenix in mid-August, he told the crowd that lending was the primary issue. “We should simplify overlapping regulations and cut red tape for responsible families who want to get a mortgage but who keep getting rejected by banks,” Obama said.

But one realtor noted, lending is only one concern. A ready supply of available homes is an entirely different matter.