Prediction: In Five Years, Prices Will Be 15%-20% Lower After Inflation

Ad Age reports:

If Moody's Economy.com has it right, U.S. home prices will fall next year for the first time since the Great Depression. That's depressing for owners and gives buyers good reason to stay on the sidelines. But here's a more unsettling forecast: Housing prices five years from now will be about the same as they are today -- and 15% to 20% lower after inflation.
That's the bearish prediction of the UCLA Anderson Forecast for California and the U.S., and it has troubling implications for the consumer economy: Housing could be mired in a malaise for years to come.
good reason to stay on the sidelines. But here's a more unsettling forecast: Housing prices five years from now will be about the same as they are today -- and 15% to 20% lower after inflation.

Remember babyboomers are going to start retiring in 2008.