We don’t know enough about this story to say how it went down, but we do know with certainty that some lenders were deceitful, that they were negligent in loaning to people they knew were bad risks (but let those people believe that they could afford these dodgy subprime loans), and that no one could have anticipated such poor governance from an administration that has wrecked the economy, weakened the dollar, borrowed like a gambler and ignored responsibility for its actions (where is your outrage at that?).

It took 3 years for an indicator to budge 2 percent. Hoo-hah!

And this is the “biggest” decline in 2 decades – well yeah, that figures – because housing prices have been rallying for about that long.

Look back at the last boom market and you will find the same pattern – climbing prices, and those who overextended themselves lose their investment when the bubble bursts.

But most people are not overextended. They continue to own their homes and accrue equity.

The overall trend since WWII is for increased home ownership. This remains the case. The “record low” 67 percent barely dents the gains of the previous 20 year rally – this cycle of housing growth still ends with a HIGHER percentage of home owners compared to the same point in the previous cycle.

And ALL these numbers confirm that a solid majority of Americans still own their homes.

So yes, the ownership society is still alive and well.

The sky is not falling – despite desparate attempts by the house-organ of the Democratic party to portray things otherwise.