Housing prices could bottom out next year

In a survey of economists, some say that home prices won’t hit bottom until the second half
of 2009, while others believe they won’t stop falling until 2011 or
2012. Home prices will rise over the next 10 to 20 years, but not nearly as much as
they’ve averaged over the past decade, the economists said. Celia Chen, director of housing
economics at Moody’s Economy.com, expects home prices to increase an
average of about 4 percent per year over the next couple of decades.