The U.S. Real Estate Future

The American housing market now. We listen to the bulls, the bears, and you on where prices and home ownership are headed.

For decades, homes and real estate were central to American family finances, to the American dream.

Then, an exploding housing bubble was at the heart of the U.S. economic collapse. Now, many are wondering if the worst is over — if housing has bottomed out, if it's back on an even keel.

Some economists say probably yes. Others say emphatically no.

Foreclosures are still huge. Different regions are all over the place. And then there’s the view that homes will never – and should never – hold the same place in our economy again.

This Hour, On Point:  Home prices and the US housing market now.Guests:

James Hagerty, news editor at the Wall Street Journal.  He reports on the national housing and mortgage markets.

Robert Shiller, professor of economics at Yale University and co-author, with Karl Case, of the Case-Schiller home price index, the most widely cited database of housing prices in the U.S.

Susan Wachter, professor of finance and real estate at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, and co-director of the Penn Institute for Urban Research.

Michael Bartus, realtor for Re/Max Results.  He covers the Twin Cities and surrounding neighborhoods.