HUD USER

The past decade has been marked by a massive housing bubble and foreclosure crisis. During the first half of the decade, home prices nationally experienced unprecedented growth, increasing 85 percent in real terms between 1997 and 2005 (Shiller, 2008). The increase was notable for its sheer magnitude and because it occurred in many markets throughout the country. In a report to Congress on the causes of the foreclosure crisis, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) detailed how, in a few short years, the country saw a housing market that had seemingly limitless potential for growth change into one that brought the economy to the brink of collapse (HUD, 2010).