Is there a housing bubble or not? Economists at the FDIC are concerned about this happening because taxpayers had to spend about $500 billion the last time it happened. Economists have been analyzing the real estate markets and they found that out of 360 plus markets, 55 of them are in a boom. That means that one in seven markets have seen very large run-ups in housing values. When it’s happened before, one in six of those markets had a decline of at least 15 percent. And that decline stuck around for about 5 years. That would mean that if a house is worth $200,000 today, it would still only be worth $170,000 five years from now. Clark doesn’t say these things to scare you. He just wants you to be aware if you’re living in these areas or planning to move to one of them. If you’re going to be in that area a while, you shouldn’t worry about it. But if you’re “speculating” as they say, it may get ugly for you.