From Reuters, here’s a pretty amazing statistic:

Home prices fell for the 53rd consecutive month in November, taking the decline past that of the Great Depression for the first time in the prolonged housing slump, according to Zillow.

Home prices have fallen 26 percent since their peak in 2006, exceeding the 25.9 percent drop registered in the five years between 1928 and 1933, the housing data company said in a report on Monday. Prices fell 0.8 percent over the month.

Of course, in certain states the price declines have been even more spectacular, which raises the question as to whether this overstates the depth of the problem. The Depression hit every corner of the country. This recession had more unequal distribution, so I suspect that if you look at the numbers absent California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada that you would get a different picture.

It’s an attention grabbing factoid but not one, I think, that means a great deal.