The Housing Boom Is OVER, Economic Slowdown Imminent

...2006 is going to be a tough tough year financially for many.

The U.S. median price of a single-family home was $218,000 in October, according to the National Association of Realtors. It's more than three times that in the San Francisco area ($721,900), more than twice that in New York ($461,100, and that's not including Manhattan), and about double in Boston ($430,900). Rental prices are climbing, too.

People earning the median income can afford only 2% of the homes in the Los Angeles area and 24% in Boston.

And now that the housing boom is over, LOOK OUT...

The housing industry accounts for only about 5 percent of the U.S. economy and yet generated half of the growth in this year's first six months and more than half of the private jobs added since 2001.

Oh and mid-term election years (like 2006) are typically bear markets.