"It's Confirmed, The Housing Double Dip Is Here"

[OlympicBrian]

"Nothing too fancy or hard to understand here... from the Just-released Case-Shiller index, it's clear that the housing double dip is here."

http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-case-shiller-september-2010-11

[Romulox]

1. What magic is going to save housing when WAGES haven't improved?

The tax credit dried up and wages are stagnant if not declining. What basis is there for a real estate rebound?

[MrsCorleone]

3. Save housing? Real estate rebound?

As housing becomes less and less a percentage of GDP, it'll have less impact on the economy as a whole. It was the severe dislocations during a fragile period that required intervention. It should continue down in an orderly fashion now (some geographical locations excluded, of course).

[OlympicBrian]

4. Well, as for the "using your house as an ATM" trend...

People used their residences as ATMs--borrowing cash against their homes, while the underlying labor market was deteriorating, according to some measures.

As housing returns to a more normal place in the macro-economy--AND, if structural changes are made, such as closing the major corporate offshoring loophole, we should see things return to normal. GDP will be less dependent on housing. Indeed, it has been suggested that the longer-term trend is towards baby-boomers migrating into smaller homes.

[TexasObserver]

2. It's clear that the new home purchase tax credit spurred sales.

It's clear that the tax credit and govt assured lending programs were the only reasons housing made any recovery at all. Over 95% of the loans for homes the past couple years have been through govt backed programs.

We are seeing the Hooverization of this recovery. "Quick, the fire is starting to burn - throw water on it!"

We are headed the wrong direction - the one the Debt Commission types are heralding.

[OlympicBrian]

5. kick