Shiller says this faux rise is now reversing.
Is that what he said, or is that what you believe?
Shiller Says Government Support Is Tied to Housing Recovery
February 23, 2010, 06:17 PM EST
Businessweek
By Timothy R. Homan
Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Stabilization in U.S. home prices that may lay the foundation for a sustained recovery in the housing market is tied to government incentives to bolster the industry that precipitated the worst recession since the 1930s, said economist Robert Shiller.
“The rebound in the housing market since April seems to be related to these efforts” that include a homebuyer tax credit and Federal Reserve purchases of mortgage-backed securities designed to hold down borrowing costs, Shiller, co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index increased 0.3 percent in December from the prior month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the seventh consecutive gain, figures from the group showed today in New York. The gauge was down 3.1 percent from December 2008, the smallest decline since May 2007.
The previous housing slump, in the early 1990s, coincided with an economic downturn and did not rely on government intervention to spur home prices, economists said. This time around, homes are becoming more affordable in part because of government programs, while the U.S. struggles to create jobs as it emerges from the worst recession since the 1930s.
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