WASHINGTON --The John McCain campaign fired back Thursday at comments made by Barack Obama over the presumptive Republican nominee's memory lapse about the number of homes he owns.

"Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses?" the McCain camp responded. "Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people cling to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who's in touch with regular Americans?"

McCain's response escalated a new layer to the debate -- including attack ads from both sides -- over which candidate is the bigger elitist in the 2008 presidential campaign.

The Republican presidential candidate's team said it is happy to engage Obama in a debate over wealth after the Democrat's camp released a hastily-produced attack ad criticizing McCain for admitting that he's not sure about how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.

Click here to see the Obama ad on McCain's homes.

McCain's admission came in an interview posted Wednesday on the Politico Web site in which the Republican candidate was asked about his and mega-millionaire wife's properties.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain said. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

Politico reported that the campaign said the McCains own four homes, located in Arizona, California and Virginia.

Though Newsweek estimated this summer that the couple owns at least seven properties, Politico reported Thursday afternoon that the family actually owns at least eight properties. But apparently they're all owned by his wife, her children and trusts or companies they control.

McCain sources told FOX News that that's part of the reason he had difficulty answering the question -- because the properties aren't technically his.

"He knows how many the two of them live in," one official said.

The McCain campaign released a response ad late Thursday playing up the link between Obama and convicted felon Tony Rezko, who was also an early backer of the Illinois senator.

"Barack Obama knows a lot about housing problems," the narrator in the ad says. "One of his biggest fundraisers helped him buy his million-dollar mansion."

Click here to see the McCain ad.

The Democratic National Committee later circulated a tongue-in-cheek primer on McCain's properties called "McCain's Abodes: A Luxury Travel Guide for the Rich, Famous and Forgetful."

The online flier showed a map of seven pricey McCain properties in Arizona, California and Virginia.

Click here to see the DNC guide to McCain's homes.

The Obamas, who reportedly earned $4.2 million last year, own one home worth $1.65 million, which they bought in January 2005 with an attractive mortgage rate.

Cindy McCain had a total income of $6 million, according to her 2006 federal tax returns. She has not released her 2007 returns, which she files separately from her husband. McCain's tax returns showed a total income of $405,409 in 2007.

Speaking Thursday morning in Chester, Va., Obama mocked McCain's answer as well as remarks made last weekend at a Saddleback Church forum in which McCain said he would define rich as someone making $5 million or more.

"I guess if you think that being rich means you got to make $5 million and if you don't know how many houses you have then it is not surprising that you might think the economy is fundamentally strong," he said. "But if you are like me and you got one house or you were like the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so they don't lose their home you might have a different perspective."

Obama responded to the wealth question posed at the forum by saying those making $250,000 or higher are in the top 3 or 4 percent and "doing well."

When McCain gave the $5 million answer, the audience laughed. He then added: "I'm sure that comment will be distorted -- but the point is that we want to keep people's taxes low and increase revenues."

Cindy McCain, whose wealth from her family's beer distributorship is estimated to be $100 million, seems to be the real estate entrepreneur in the family, but it has caused her headaches. On June 30, a trust fund of hers paid $1,743 in overdue property taxes on a condominium in La Jolla, Calif., outside San Diego. The condo was scheduled to go in default if not paid by July 1.

Additional bills totaling $6,744 for the years 2004 through 2007 were also paid by the trust. The error was explained by saying an address change for the trust had not been sent to San Diego County, which mailed the tax bills.

Cindy McCain was also quoted in Vogue magazine talking about her Coronado condo, also in San Diego.

"When I bought the first one, my husband, who is not a beach person, said, 'Oh, this is such a waste of money; the kids will never go,'" she told the magazine. "Then it got to the point where they used it so much I couldn't get in the place. So I bought another one."

Click here to hear McCain's interview with The Politico.