If you are curious about today's S&P housing price report in the news...

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

News stories seldom link to this, but the Case-Shiller S&P 20 city home price reports data is alway available on line for free in spreadsheet form. You can see the whole run of the survey for each city.

http://www2.standardandpoors.com/portal/site/sp/en/us/page.topic/indices_csmahp/0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0.html

http://www2.standardandpoors.com/spf/pdf/index/CSHomePrice_History_022445.xls

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Housing Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Fall a Record 18.5%

Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Home prices in 20 U.S. cities declined 18.5 percent in December from a year earlier, the fastest drop on record, as foreclosures climbed and sales sank.

The decrease in the S&P/Case-Shiller index was more than forecast and followed an 18.2 percent drop in November. The gauge has fallen every month since January 2007, and year-over- year records began in 2001.

Record foreclosures are contributing to declining property values and household wealth, crippling the consumer spending that makes up about 70 percent of the economy. The Obama administration has pledged to spend $275 billion to help stabilize the housing market, including $75 billion to bring down mortgage rates and encourage loan modifications.

“The massive inventory overhang in the market and the surge in foreclosures mean prices will continue to fall rapidly,” Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York, said today in a note to clients. “The administration’s rescue plan will, in time, slow the rate of decline, but it won’t happen immediately.”

(snip...)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=a3ArfwXFeZJM&refer=home

[xchrom]

1. between the squeeze on wages, this, healthcare --

the masses of people are getting fucked.