Is the housing bust over?

Economists said it was by nearly 2-to-1 in the latest WSJ.com economic forecasting survey. But they also expect that the average selling price of a house will fall next year.

"We're nearing the end of the slowdown for most markets," said Ethan S. Harris at Lehman Brothers. Prices still have some ways to fall before they'll stabilize, but there are signs that most drastic parts of the downturn – marked by a sharp pullback in demand and new construction – have run their course.

The predictions for home prices next year are all over the map, ranging from an from an increase of 7 percent (Kurt Karl and Arun Raha of Swiss Re) to a 10 percent decline (Maury Harris of UBS). All told 20 economists predicted home prices would rise next year, while 24 forecast a decline. Of course, all real estate is local, so the situation in L.A. will probably be a lot different than, say, Las Vegas or Naples, Fla.