The 2nd worst decline ever

Just to finish things off, chart-wise here, I thought I'd include a chart of the YOY% change in median single family home prices. It goes all the way back to 1970. You can see several years of middling growth (5-10%) and two gigantic peaks -- in the late 70s hyperinflationary period and in the most recent bubble.

You can also see the 1.7% decline for August 2006. That's the second-biggest drop ever, behind only November 1990.