'I don't know how many homes I own'... John McCain damages bid to make the White House his EIGHTH

'I think  -  I'll have my staff get to you,' McCain responded when asked about his properties by a journalist.

In fact, McCain and his wealthy wife own a total of seven properties in various part of America.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain, with wife Cindy, says he doesn't know how many houses he owns

The Republican senator's slip-up came just days after he said that being rich in the U.S. meant earning at least £2.5million a year.

Both comments were immediately seized upon by his Democrat rival Barack Obama, to show that 71-year-old McCain is out of touch with the economic plight of most Americans.

Obama said: 'Now think about that  -  I guess if you think that being rich means you gotta make five million dollars, and if you don't know how many houses you have, then it's not surprising that you might think the economy is fundamentally strong.'

Obama, 47, said anyone earning over £125,000 is rich.

And he rushed out a TV advert that gleefully pointed out that his rival has seven homes worth an estimated £7.5million.

The advert ends with a shot of the White House with the words: 'Here's one house America cannot afford to let John McCain move into.'

Obama's campaign also issued a statement which said he only owns one house, his family home in Chicago.

The gaffes could not have come at a better time for him, because McCain had accused him of being elitist, citing his Harvard education.

The housing crisis in the U.S. has become a key factor in the election battle.

A record 1.3million have lost their homes to foreclosure  -  repossession  -  because of the subprime mortgage crisis and credit crunch.

McCain and his wife Cindy own three homes in Phoenix, Arizona.

Two are condominium units, or apartments, joined together and worth more than £2.3million in a downtown block, while the third is a £1million holiday home nearby.

They also own two condos in California, £1.1million and £1.35million, as well as a £500,000 beachfront flat in the same state.

And while working in Washington, McCain lives at his £450,000 flat in Arlington, Virginia.

McCain is not wealthy, but his wife has a fortune estimated at £50million from her share in a beer distribution company.

According to her 2006 tax returns, she had a total income of £3million.

Her husband's tax returns showed a total income of just over £220,000 in 2007.