SOURCE: NPR

The housing market collapse is prompting many economists to warn that a recession is becoming more likely.

The real estate industry is shedding tens of thousands of jobs, mortgage lenders are skittish, and homeowners are no longer spending confidently due to declining equity in their property. In fact, housing prices have fallen more than ever since before World War II and foreclosures are no longer considered a rare event.

The hundreds of billions of dollars in losses to the mortgage industry have forced many residential and commercial mortgage companies into bankruptcy and other industries are seeing the effects as well. New home construction and renovations are down which is causing layoffs in those industries in addition to the suppliers of construction materials.

Some economists feel that there is a long ways to go before the bottom is reached.

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