Housing affordability is improving dramatically

Since home prices in major metropolitan areas are falling 2% a month and mortgage rates are down to all-time lows, it is not surprising that measures of housing affordability are skyrocketing. This chart uses data from the National Assoc. of Realtors as of December '08. This is not to say housing can't get cheaper, but it is very good news for anyone who over the past several years has been shut out of the market and/or worried that prices were inflated.

In subsequent posts I'm going to try to recap all of the bits and pieces of news that I think paints a positive picture of what's going on out there in the economy. The headlines news is so overwhelmingly bad, and the direction of policy in Washington so abysmally bad that I need to cheer myself up. Optimism is in very short supply these days, so I'm going to do my best to contribute to fair and balanced coverage of the economy.