Is the housing recovery losing steam? It’s harder to dismiss the possibility after reading today’s update of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. Nationally, U.S. housing prices fell 2.0% in this year’s third quarter over the previous three months. That’s a sharp deceleration from the 4.7% rise in this year’s second quarter.

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►Contagion Fears Hit Euro; Spanish Bond Spreads Widen
Mark Brown and Eva Szalay/Wall Street Journal/Nov 30
Spanish and Italian bond spreads over German bunds rose sharply to new highs, as did the cost of European sovereign debt insurance, while the euro continued to tumble, as euro-zone contagion fears continue to roil currency and debt markets.
The premium demanded by investors to hold Spanish 10-year bonds over the benchmark German bund rose over 30 basis points to more than 300 basis points, while Italy’s 10-year bund spreads rose over 20 basis points to 215 basis points, according to Tradeweb, record highs in both cases.
►Asia stocks fall on Europe debt, China hike fears
Associated Press/Nov 30
Asian markets crumpled Tuesday as Chinese shares slid on fears of an interest rate hike and the European Union’s bailout of Ireland failed to convince investors the continent’s debt crisis has been contained…
Soaring prices in China, the world’s No. 2 economy, are so far limited mostly to food, but analysts say price pressure could spread to other areas unless Beijing hikes interest rates and further tightens credit. Investors worry that might slow economic growth or reduce the amount of money flowing through the economy that is helping to finance stock trading.
“There is a little nervousness about how hard the policymakers will have to slam on the brakes to contain inflation,” said David Cohen, an economist with Action Economics in Singapore.

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