House prices seem to be ‘in trouble’ in the good ol’ USA. If they only had the foresight to host the winter olympics maybe the US housing market could be saved eh? Today’s story in the financial post:

The United States could be heading for its first outright decline in national house prices on record, according to several analysts watching the rapid deterioration in housing statistics south of the border.

Further weakness in the housing sector could stunt construction activity and slam consumer spending, leading to slower growth in both the United States and Canada, analysts said.

“The slowdown in house price inflation has been extraordinarily rapid,” Gabrielle Stein, chief international economist at Lombard Street Research said in a report this week.

Those of us living in Vancouver should perhaps take a moment to be thankful for our rock-solid housing market, and the fact that due to beefed-up border security we are completely and utterly protected up here from whats happening in the US. It’s almost as if we are in a protective bubble!