Peak Lending?

"Until mortgage lending picks up again, the housing market will have a hard time getting back on its feet. But until home prices stop falling, lenders are going to remain leery about writing a mortgage on an asset that is still losing value."

And thats the entire problem with our economy

From this article on MSNBC.com:

Can anyone see the problem here? Our entire economy depends on GROWTH. Not stagnation, not contraction, but growth. Can our economy grow in a sustainable manner, especially without growth in energy usage? I seriously doubt it.

Why US housing is losing value is a tough question to answer. I would imagine (and I'm no expert) that falling wages and a depressed economy have something to do with it, in addition to the increasing price of EVERYTHING else (via inflation or just plain supply and demand as with gasoline).

I think the question on everyone's mind is, what is the US housing stock worth without transportation to get to it? The answer is undoubtedly 'mostly worthless' except for a small core of communities with walking and biking access to essentials.