How low will house prices go?

According to an FT/Thomson poll of economists, median house prices will fall a total of 3% between 2006 and 2009. This is an unprecedented fall.

Unusually for the FT, the article is very confusing. Median house prices is a statistic put out by the National Association of Realtors, not the government as they imply. In addition, the figure they give on median house prices for 2009, 235 K, makes no sense, as it is substantially higher than current or past levels.

Anyway, the point stands. Of course, this is only one out of a series of house price measures (see my guide). For example, the Case-Shiller index has already posted a decline of over 3%.