Remember the first time homebuyer tax credit?  Well it expired last spring.  And what has happened to home prices since then (click the image to make it bigger)?

For those that need help reading the chart: tThis is showing a few different measures of housing prices.  But they all show the homebuyer credit providing an artificial floor in home prices.  The net impact of course is showing that even though people saved $8000 by getting in when they did, the value of their home is probably going to fall more than that.  Congress doesn’t have an appetite for another credit, but it’s clear what it does to prices.  Note: that was not an endorsement of the credit.

Thanks to Calculated Risk for always providing fantastic charts.  The link also provides the same chart using REAL prices instead of nominal.

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  By 		The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice.

categories: economics, government, Housing, loans