And the sun didn’t come up after all
by digby
Nearly two years since the recession officially ended, home sale prices in major U.S. cities dropped to their lowest level since the bubble burst in 2006, according to fresh data released on Tuesday. The report confirms that the housing market’s “double dip” is at hand, and many economists say prices will continue to decline through the rest of this year.
Home values dropped from February to March in 18 of the 20 cities tracked by the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index, which is widely considered the leading gauge of the housing market’s health. Washington D.C. was the only city in the index that showed year-over-year improvement since March 2010.
The nationwide home price index fell by 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2011 and March marks the eighth straight month of decline. Twelve cities fell to their lowest levels since the 2006 crash, with Minneapolis experiencing the steepest year-over-year decline: Area prices were 10 percent lower than March last year.
One person concludes that the people who want to buy houses can’t and the ones who can won’t because they don’t want to be stuck with a losing investment. This is a big problem. But the good news is that the government didn’t take any real action on the housing crisis so at least there isn’t any moral hazard lurking out there to sap the good characters of the silly masses.
If it weren’t for the fact that the Republicans are so batshit insane that they think this terrible economic environment means it’s a good time to fulfill their dream of finally being able to throw old people in the streets, this would be a real problem for the president as well. Morning in America doesn’t seem to be arriving on schedule.
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