It's 1991 again
The evidence keeps rolling in that the housing market is looking more and more the way it did the last time it tanked:
The decline in U.S. home prices accelerated nationwide in July, posting the steepest drop in 16 years, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday.
Home prices have fallen by more every month since the beginning of the year.
The index covers ten major U.S. cities. The drop in July was 4.5%. Want something more representative? A measure of 20 cities fell 3.9%, with drops in 15 of 20 cities. And the places still rising — confined to the Sun Belt and Pacific Northwest — are looking toppy:
The five cities where prices are still rising — Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Dallas, Portland and Seattle — have reported growth is slowing in the past year. Atlanta and Dallas are close to moving into negative territory, S&P said.
Yale economist Robert Shiller — hey, how can I get my name on an economic indicator? — sees a "significant risk" of recession within the next year.
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