Despite bust, americans still believe in housing

Despite a bruising, five-year drop in U.S. home prices, eight in ten Americans still believe that home ownership is the best long-term investment they can make, according to a new survey.

Apparently, hope springs eternal. After a dramatic run-up in U.S. home prices the 1990s and early '00s — fueled by easy lending standards and the encouragement of Wall Street — the market began its sickening plunge in July 2006.

The average metropolitan home has lost roughly a third of its value since then, according to the latest reading from the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

Generous tax breaks for home buyers temporarily halted the slide last year. But with those incentives gone, home prices are headed lower again.

Source: MSNBC