Housing Bubble Still Bursting

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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.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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