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The Housing Wild Card

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In this Sept. 23, 2009 photo, a home with a sale pending is shown in Tallahassee, Fla. The National Association of Realtors said on Oct. 1 that the volume of signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose for the seventh straight month in August as buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit for first-time owners that expires at the end of November. (AP)
A home with a sale pending is shown in Tallahassee, Fla, Sept. 23, 2009. The National Association of Realtors said on Oct. 1 that the volume of signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose for the seventh straight month in August as buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit for first-time owners that expires at the end of November. (AP)

An American housing bubble and bust lead the U.S. economy into near-collapse. An ocean of federal funds and tax credits have helped slow the bust.
Now, some of those interventions are winding up, just as a new wave of foreclosures may be looming. An $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers expires next month. Lobbying is hot and heavy right now to have it extended and expanded.
Otherwise, home builders and realtors warn, home prices could skid again. They may anyway.
This hour, On Point: Home prices, housing, the U.S. economy, and what comes next.
You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Diana Olick, real estate correspondent for CNBC.

Joining us from Wellesley, Mass., is Karl Case, professor of economics at Wellesley College and co-author, with Yale economist Robert Shiller, of the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, the most widely cited database of housing prices in the U.S.

From Leesburg, Va., we're joined by Thomas Lawler, housing economist and founder of Lawler Economic & Housing Consulting.

And from San Diego we're joined by Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of Moody's Economy.com.

This program aired on October 20, 2009.

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