Federal home-buyer tax credits expired last spring, and a few months later home prices started to sag again. As of November of last year, they’re still sagging:
The 20-city index is now about 3 percent above April 2009 levels, “suggesting that a double dip could be confirmed before spring,” David Blitzer, the index committee’s chairman
….From October to November, prices fell in 19 of the 20 metro areas tracked by the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index, widely considered a gauge of the housing market’s health. The only exception was San Diego, where prices were basically unchanged.
My own guess is that house prices still have a ways to fall, but not a long ways. Still, even another 10% over the next year or so would continue to put a big drag on the economy. Prosperity may be somewhere around the block, but it’s not quite around the corner yet.
