Housing: Back to 2000

Felix Salmon says there's no end in sight for the housing bust, pointing to the latest edition of the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Housing prices are off 36 percent since their 2006 peak, plunging to 2002 levels in nominal terms, and, as Business Week's Prashant Gopal notes, to  2000 levels when inflation is taken into account. Calculated Risk (with great graphics as usual) predicts another 10-20 percent drop, Ouch!

Regional differences remain pronounced as the chart above shows. Phoenix and Las Vegas are down more than 50 percent from their peak values, while Dallas is off only 11 percent. Dallas, Denver, Boston, Charlotte, and New York appear to be holding up best. Detroit's are nearly 30 percent below 2000 levels, in line with 1995 prices. New York's housing prices, on the other hand, remain 73 percent above 2000 levels.