The Reckoning: Housing by the Numbers
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The bust finally seems to be over, but the U.S. housing market remains far from normal. Mortgages are the cheapest ever, and prices have plunged by a third, pushing up affordability. But there’s a glut of homes ready to land on the market as soon as prices perk up. And the price bust has knocked a lot of potential buyers out of the market. They owe more on their homes than they’re worth, so they can’t scrape up a down payment to buy a new place.