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Economy
Home prices drop, and consumers turn gloomy
2012-01-31
Home prices fell more steeply than expected in November, and consumer confidence soured in January, highlighting the hurdles still facing the economic recovery.

The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of single-family home prices in 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, a survey showed on Tuesday, a bigger drop than the 0.5 percent economists expected. The decrease added on to the 0.7 percent decline seen in October from September.

Separately, a report from The Conference Board said an index of consumer attitudes fell to 61.1 in January from a revised 64.8 the month before, as Americans turned gloomy about the job market and their income prospects.

The data frustrated expectations for an increase after sharp gains in November and December.
I am so glad we had those stimulus! Just imagine what our housing market would be like without it!
Posted by:DarthVader

#10  Every article about home prices should show the Case-Shiller index, but they almost never do.
Below is the index to 2008

Just how far to they have to fall to get back to a usual & customary level?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2012-01-31 20:39  

#9  Home prices are still way too high in many parts of the country. Americans who haven't had a good degree of pessimism about general job & income prospects since about the summer of 2007 just haven't been paying attention.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2012-01-31 19:45  

#8  BP: _ALL_ forms of taxation are eventually passed on to the customer. Any corporation that pays taxes must collect them from someone else. This goes for land taxes just like everything else.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2012-01-31 18:33  

#7  Also the F5 key.
Posted by: Pappy   2012-01-31 18:20  

#6  Excellent point!
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-01-31 17:26  

#5  Well stocks and Land are different. The supply of land does not expand when prices increase.

Thus speculation in land is especially dangerous to the economy, and acts as a form of privately collected taxation!
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2012-01-31 17:23  

#4  Buying low, then selling high is not an excluse adage of the stock market. For there to be "winners" there must also be... "losers."
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-01-31 17:01  

#3  The end of the Free money supply from re-mortaging thinking they'll sell to some other rube to pay off the debts...

Well, They were the Rubes! Everyone just living in a home is totally unnafected by the price being lower.

New buyers however were severely damaged by low affordability of housing...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2012-01-31 16:34  

#2  Another good aspect of it is the "your home is your nestegg" myth is busted. That's no help to the people who believed it before the crash hit, but going forward, people who are paying attention can plan accordingly...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2012-01-31 15:42  

#1  This is good news. Home prices need to drop. The skyrocketing home prices we saw in the last two decades were a direct result of artificial stimulus by the likes of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Bawney Fwank. Can you say inflation? I knew you could. How about deflation? That's better, much better if you are a young family looking for a place to live.

I can sympathize with people who find themselves underwater but, if you think of it as a home instead of an investment maybe that will help.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2012-01-31 15:07  

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