What decline in home prices?

During the housing bubble the San Jose Mercury News took great delight in publishing each Saturday a large, full color “heat map” of exactly how much real estate prices in different neighborhoods around Silicon Valley had appreciated year over year.

And then the bubble burst and housing prices started crashing (the median and average are now both down almost 40%). And the large, full-color map lost its color and relocated to another section.

And then this past week my wife and I noticed that the map disappeared altogether.

Apparently the change in housing prices is only important news when it’s going up.  When the prices are crashing back to earth, our local newspaper would really be happier if you minded your own business and just went about your life. Trust them,  it’s always a good time to buy or sell real estate (one of my favorite NAR slogans).