Yahoo Finance Yale's Shiller Warns Over Another Possible Housing Collapse
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index rose 5.2% year-over-year in March. Yale University economics professor and Robert Shiller, one of the index’s creators, had a positive yet tempered reaction to the data.
“It’s kind of what I expected. Ever since 2012, that was the bottom of the market, it’s been chugging along, going up. And it’s not exciting, but it’s positive and I don’t see why it won’t continue it for a while,” Shiller told the FOX Business Network’s Connell McShane.
“Well I don’t think it’s a preoccupation the way it was in 2006-2007. Though people need a place to live, employment is growing, people bid up the price, you have to outbid somebody else to get the house. I don’t think people are so focused on the excitement of a bubble,” said Shiller, explaining his subdued reaction.
On concerns the factors in the housing market that led to the financial crisis have not been fixed, Shiller responded, “We can’t fix human psychology.”
Shiller weighed in on whether the safeguards that have been put in place are sufficient to prevent another financial crisis in the future.
“There has been a lot of regulation” Shiller continued, “All over the world countries are putting in protections. So, yeah, I suppose things are better. But I don’t know that the protections are going to be enough and someday if this keeps going on long enough we might have another collapse in the housing market.”
When pressed on when another housing market collapse might occur, Shiller replied, “Nobody knows. If anyone knew that it wouldn’t happen. There’s an element of truth to efficient markets. On the other hand, yeah there are places where it’s getting exciting.”
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